A Brief History of Massage Therapy: From Ancient Times to Modern Healthcare
/A Brief History of Massage: From Ancient Times to Modern Healthcare
Massage in some form has been used for thousands of years to promote relaxation, healing, and overall well-being. This practice of massage varies from country to country, but what is consistent is that most cultures practiced some form of massage.
For thousands of years, people with illnesses and disabilities were treated with various methods of massage, the history of which varies from region to region. One of the oldest accounts of massage is in Egypt in the tomb of Akmanthor, in this tomb there is a painting dating back to 2330 BCE that depicts two men having work done on their feet and hands. Another historical account is in Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey where “massage with oils and aromatic substances” is mentioned as a means to “relax the tired limbs of warriors and a way to help the treatment of wounds". Let's take a brief review through the history of this ancient treatment method.
Ancient Origins
Ancient civilizations, including those of Egypt, China, Tibet, India, Americas, Polynesia, and Greece, developed diverse healing traditions often rooted in an ecological understanding of health and well-being. These belief systems viewed our bodies as an ecosystem in delicate balance with its surroundings, constantly interacting with the environment and influenced by the natural world. Massage was often viewed as something that could be used to sooth and balance energy in the body.
Egypt: Hieroglyphics depict massage techniques being used to alleviate pain and tension.
China: Traditional Chinese Medicine incorporates massage, known as tui na, as a key component of holistic healing.
Tibet: Tibetan medicine provides a compelling way to think about how our minds and bodies are part of a multi-scale ecosystem. This is similar to embodied cognition theories, which see these as parts of a complex dynamic system. Traditional Tibetan massage, also known as Ku Nye, is a key component of Tibetan medicine, a holistic healing system that combines the needs of the body and mind.
India: Ayurvedic medicine utilizes massage, or abhyanga, to balance the body's energy and promote vitality.
Americas Indigenous cultures often view the body as a vessel through which individuals experience a diverse range of experiences and interact with their environment.
Polynesians: Had complex rituals involving massage that would attempt to bring an individual back into balance or harmony.
Greece: The ancient Greeks recognized the therapeutic benefits of massage and incorporated it into their medical practices.
The Medicalization of Massage in the 19th Century
The Industrial Revolution marked a significant turning point in the history of massage in Europe. As society shifted from agrarian to industrial, new challenges emerged, including sedentary lifestyles, repetitive strain injuries, and increased stress. The Physical Culture Movement, a response to these challenges, championed physical fitness and well-being (Heffernan, 2022). Massage, as a means of relaxation, pain relief, and injury recovery, aligned perfectly with the movement's goals.
In this time a medical gymnastics pioneer Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839) developed systematic massage techniques, rooted in anatomy and physiology, which helped legitimize massage as a therapeutic practice. Dutch physician Johan Georg Mezger (1838-1909) further developed and taught these Swedish techniques which focus on long, flowing strokes.
Around this time, several other hands-on treatment methods emerged, including physiotherapy, chiropractic, and osteopathy (MacDonald et al., 2024). These professions drew inspiration from traditional healers and bone-setters, who often adopted a holistic approach to health and well-being. Over the past century, these professions - massage therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractic, and osteopathy - have evolved together, cross-pollinating techniques and beliefs.
Despite many of these treatment methods starting out as holistic approaches, socio-cultural factors of the time influence perceptions of health, illness, and disease (Zegarra-Parodi et al., 2024). In the twentieth century the biomedical model which posits that disease arises from physical or chemical dysfunctions within the body was the prevailing paradigm. This had an impact on how people would treat various ailments, from muscle pain to mental health conditions. As a result throughout the twentieth century each of these different professions (massage therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractic, and osteopathy) would tend to focus on patho-anatomical reasoning (e.g., bones, joints, myofascial, nerves, etc.) (Kerry et al., 2024).
While the biomedical model has undoubtedly made significant strides in healthcare, it often overlooks the interconnectedness of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. This reductionist approach can limit the effectiveness of treatment, particularly for chronic non-communicable diseases. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of a complex whole-person approach, which integrates the mind and the body. This shift aligns with the original philosophies of many of these hands-on therapies, and it offers a promising avenue for future research and clinical practice (Kerry et al., 2024, Langevin, 2024)
The combination of industrial-era health needs and the Physical Culture movement's emphasis on physical well-being led to a resurgence of massage in Europe, laying the foundation for its modern practice. Image - Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar: massage room. Oil painting by Godfrey Jervis Gordon ("Jan Gordon")
Massage Therapy in the 21st Century
Massage therapy is a time-honored approach that is in need of a conceptual change. While ancient civilizations recognized the body as a dynamic system influenced by its environment, their understanding often lacked the scientific rigor of modern medicine. Conversely, modern medicine, while remarkably effective in treating disease, can sometimes overlook the holistic nature of health and well-being.
By combining the wisdom of ancient healing traditions with the evidence-based practices of modern science, we can develop a more comprehensive evidence-based whole-person approach to health and well-being. This approach would consider the complex interplay of biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors, promoting not only physical health but also mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Part Two: A Modern Framework for Massage Therapy
With a rich history spanning thousands of years, massage practitioners from around the globe have been utilizing this hand-on therapy to address a wide range of health issues. Stay tuned for part two which will take a deeper dive and look at how massage therapists can shift from the primarily tissue focused approach to a whole-person approach to health and well-being.
More to Explore:
Here are four textbooks that focus on the history of massage for an more in-depth look at the history of massage
Benjamin, P. (2015). The Emergence of the Massage Therapy Profession in North America: A History in Archetypes. Curties-Overzet Publications.
Calvert, R. (2002). The History of Massage: An Illustrated Survey from around the World. Healing Arts Press.
Graham, D. (1884). A Practical Treatise on Massage, Its History, Mode of Application, and Effects. W. Wood & Company.
Lo, V., Stanley-Baker, M., & Yang, D. (2022). Routledge Handbook of Chinese Medicine (1st ed.). Routledge.
These are the research papers I used to help formulate my ideas based on over-lapping concepts from massage therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractic, osteopathy and other traditional healing approaches.
Béres, A. (2024). Revisiting the relationship between traditional East Asian medicine and biomedicine: Incorporating the Western into the Eastern. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 70, 102388.
Bialosky, J. E., Beneciuk, J. M., Bishop, M. D., Coronado, R. A., Penza, C. W., Simon, C. B., & George, S. Z. (2018). Unraveling the Mechanisms of Manual Therapy: Modeling an Approach. The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 48(1), 8–18. https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2018.7476
Cerritelli, F., & Esteves, J. E. (2022). An Enactive-Ecological Model to Guide Patient-Centered Osteopathic Care. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 10(6), 1092. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10061092
Çetkin, M., Bahşi, İ., & Orhan, M. (2019). The Massage Approach of Avicenna in the Canon of Medicine. Acta medico-historica adriatica : AMHA, 17(1), 103–114. https://doi.org/10.31952/amha.17.1.6
Degenhardt, B., van Dun, P. L. S., Jacobson, E., Fritz, S., Mettler, P., Kettner, N., Franklin, G., Hensel, K., Lesondak, D., Consorti, G., Frank, L., Reed, W. R., MacDonald, C., Kremen, V., Martin, C., Landels, B., & Standley, P. (2024). Profession-based manual therapy nomenclature: exploring history, limitations, and opportunities. The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 32(1), 96–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/10669817.2023.2288495
Draper-Rodi, J., Newell, D., Barbe, M. F., & Bialosky, J. (2024). Integrated manual therapies: IASP taskforce viewpoint. Pain reports, 9(6), e1192. https://doi.org/10.1097/PR9.0000000000001192
Elendu, C. (2024). The evolution of ancient healing practices: From shamanism to Hippocratic medicine: A review. Medicine, 103(28), e39005. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000039005
Graham, D. (1879). History of Massage. Atlanta medical and surgical journal, 17(7), 426–434.
Graham, K. D., Foley, H., Adams, J., & Steel, A. (2023). Complex systems, complex practice, complex outcomes: a call for the development of complexity-informed implementation models (CIIM) for traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 64, 102314.
Heffernan, C. (2022). State of the field: Physical culture. History, 107(374), 143-162.
Hentschel, H. D., & Schneider, J. (2004). Zur geschichte der massage in der indischen lebens- und heilweise [The history of massage in the ways of life and healing in India]. Wurzburger medizinhistorische Mitteilungen, 23, 179–203.
Jonas, W. B., & Rosenbaum, E. (2021). The Case for Whole-Person Integrative Care. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania), 57(7), 677. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57070677
Justice, C., Sullivan, M. B., Van Demark, C. B., Davis, C. M., & Erb, M. (2023). Guiding Principles for the Practice of Integrative Physical Therapy. Physical therapy, 103(12), pzad138. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzad138
Iorio, S., Marinozzi, S., & Gazzaniga, V. (2018). Healing bodies: the ancient origins of massages and Roman practices. Medicina Historica, 1(2), 58-62.
Kerry, R., Young, K. J., Evans, D. W., Lee, E., Georgopoulos, V., Meakins, A., McCarthy, C., Cook, C., Ridehalgh, C., Vogel, S., Banton, A., Bergström, C., Mazzieri, A. M., Mourad, F., & Hutting, N. (2024). A modern way to teach and practice manual therapy. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 32(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-024-00537-0
Kleisiaris, C. F., Sfakianakis, C., & Papathanasiou, I. V. (2014). Health care practices in ancient Greece: The Hippocratic ideal. Journal of medical ethics and history of medicine, 7, 6.
Langevin, H. M. (2024). Health and Well-Being: Distinct and Intertwined Concepts. Medical care, 62(12 Suppl 1), S13–S14. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000002061
Lebert, R., Noy, M., Purves, E., & Tibbett, J. (2022). Massage Therapy: A Person-Centred Approach to Chronic Pain. International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork, 15(3), 27–34. https://doi.org/10.3822/ijtmb.v15i3.713
Lynch, J. M., Thomas, H. R., Askew, D. A., & Sturman, N. (2023). Holding the complex whole: Generalist philosophy, priorities and practice that facilitate whole-person care. Australian journal of general practice, 52(7), 428–433. https://doi.org/10.31128/AJGP-01-23-6686
Ma, Y., Sun, S., & Peng, C. K. (2014). Applications of dynamical complexity theory in traditional Chinese medicine. Frontiers of medicine, 8(3), 279–284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11684-014-0367-6
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MacDonald, C. W., Osmotherly, P. G., Parkes, R., & Rivett, D. A. (2019). The current manipulation debate: historical context to address a broken narrative. The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 27(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/10669817.2019.1558382
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MacDonald, C. W., Parkes, R., & Osmotherly, P. G. (2024). Part II: Beyond Broken Histories: Reframing Professional Identity and the Historical Genesis of Manual Therapy. Interviews across professions. The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 1–13. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10669817.2024.2426051
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