Principled Massage

The beautiful thing about Massage Therapy (MT) is the freedom to be unique and allow for personalized treatments. Generally, all treatments should follow a group of principles.

This trial quantified the principle of applying increasing pressure from a perceived light through to heavy, until the target tissue is reached.

The study focused on pressure delivered by the therapist, pressure perceived by the patient and muscle activity. The results suggest that following the above principle is less stressful for the tissues and the patient’s perception, which is something we already suspected but had little evidence of. If the goal is an analgesic or sedative effect then following this principle is the way to do it.

Being purposeful in providing massage treatments is crucial to building rapport and loyalty with patients. This study presents us with evidence supporting one of the fundamental massage principles. Explaining what he/she can expect is the responsible and professional conversation to have. Now it is possible to describe with greater accuracy what the patient can expect, why it’s necessary and back it up with research.

Dan