Eastern Massage Therapy

Massage therapy has long been used for different conditions, including muscle spasms, headaches, and even respiratory problems. They have been used by both the scientific community and the more traditional Eastern countries. Regardless of whether a massage therapy is Western or Eastern, it seems to effectively provide natural relief to many conditions.

Western massage therapy exists in the form of effleurage, tapotement, petrissage, or deep friction. To find out more about effleurage and petrissage, read this. Or click here if you are interested in deep friction and tapotement.

What is eastern massage therapy?

Eastern massage is widely popular in many parts of the world. Unlike western massage, eastern massage does not rely on western principles and theories of the body’s physiology and anatomy.

What are the types of Eastern massage therapy?

Below are a few types of Eastern massage:

• Shiatsu
• Reflexology/ Auriculotherapy
• Decongestive lymphatic therapy

What is Shiatsu?

Shiatsu is a Japanese massage therapy but is based on Chinese principles of meridians and also on more Western, scientific principles.

Shiatsu revolves around the twelve Chinese major channels (also known as meridians) in the body. These meridians are thought to be where life force (Chi, or energy) circulates in the body. On these meridians, certain pressure points are located that allow specific access to the aforementioned meridians. It was believed that imbalance of energy in the meridians can bring about illness. Therefore, the pressure points are targeted in Shiatsu (acupressure) to restore balance in the body’s Chi. The pressure points are targeted by acupressure massage instead of the needles of acupuncture.

What are auriculotherapy and reflexology?

Just like shiatsu, auriculotherapy and reflexology both use the theories surrounding the Chinese meridians of the body. Below are some concepts of reflexology:

• Meridians in reflexology are thought to control specific areas of the body, pretty much like how certain areas of the brain control specific parts of the body.
• Attention has been paid particularly to the feet. In reflexology, different parts of the feet were mapped to represent specific body parts.

Lymphatic therapy is another type of Eastern massage aimed at reducing the congestion of the lymphatic system. This type of Eastern massage is useful in people suffering from lymphedema. To find out more about this complex massage that involves caring for oneself, click here.