What is Massotherapy?

The power of massage is proven to be far reaching and profound. Simple human touch has incredible benefits, including reducing stress, strain, and feelings of isolation or loneliness. But massage therapy, or massotherapy, goes far beyond just delivering a feeling of relief and connectedness to the recipient through touch. Massotherapy is an element of holistic medicine that involves the treatment of conditions and issues in the body through massage techniques.

Massotherapy has been around for thousands of years, with evidence of massage being used therapeutically in ancient Greece, China, Rome, and Egypt, among other ancient cultures. The practice of Ayurveda, often considered some of the foundation for holistic medicine today, has been used by the Hindu culture since 1500 BCE, combining massage with meditation and aromatherapy. Massage therapy gained traction in the United States in the 1850’s when some American physicians brought the treatment over from Europe, where it had been widely used since the Renaissance.

Massotherapists are trained extensively in understanding the body and are well equipped to handle a wide range of physiological and emotional issues that their clients are seeking assistance with. There are many different forms of massotherapy that can be offered, each with different aims and specializations, so it is best to acquaint yourself with some of the different methods to see which would be most beneficial to you.

One common type of massotherapy is deep tissue massage. This type of massage is rather intense and often painful as it aims to get into the muscles to help relieve problems such as restrictive connective tissue and underlying scar tissue. This allows for people to experience better posture and greater range of motion once some of those restrictions have been broken up by massage.

Another common massotherapy technique is sports massage. This is used primarily in athletes before sporting events in order to reduce the risk of injury, as well as after sports performances to help relieve inflammation and tension caused by excessive muscle strain during high intensity activities.

A third type of massotherapy is called reflexology. Reflexology is an ancient Chinese technique of using certain points of hands, feet, or legs to create relief in corresponding parts of the body. This technique has become more popular in recent years in Western culture and has therefore begun to be studied more extensively. Research is still new and preliminary but millennia of use in Eastern culture have led people to give some credence to this form of massage therapy.

There are several other forms of massage therapy, all of which can be used to help treat ailments and medical conditions. Since massage therapy is a form of holistic medicine, its claims of effectiveness are sometimes questioned by people who lean towards more traditional medical treatments. Some suggest that the healing effects are simply a placebo response to the comforting nature of human touch. However, many studies have been done into massotherapy and indicate that massage can truly benefit those seeking holistic relief from pain, strain, or conditions in the body.

Holistic Massotherapy and Wellness uses therapeutic massage and a holistic health approach for wellness. We specialize in customized sessions for restoration of the mind and body. If you’re in the Greater Cleveland area and looking for a quality massage experience, contact us today!