How to Perform Swedish Massage

Swedish massage was developed in the early 1800's by a Swedish physician. Since then it has become the most commonly practiced massage in the West. It can help reduce muscle pain and joint stiffness. It is also good for relaxation, stress reduction and promotes general health.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Someone to massage
• A comfortable firm surface to massage on, such as a massage table, bed, or mat on the floor
• Massage oil or lotion

1. Familiarize yourself with the five basic strokes of Swedish massage.Effleurage: Long flowing strokes using the palm of the hand or a loose fist. This stroke helps warm up the tissue to prepare it for deeper work. Keep your hands relaxed when doing this stroke.Petrissage: Kneading strokes that lift the muscle away from the bone. This stroke encourages blood and lymph flow.Tapotement: The percussive stroke that you often see on TV and in movies. It can be done in a chopping motion using the sides of the hands or with loose fists. Be sure to keep your wrists loose and relaxed. It promotes superficial blood flow and invigorates muscles.Friction: Small detailed strokes across the muscle fibers. This stroke is usually quite deep and can be done with fingertips, thumbs and knuckles moving back and forth across muscle fibers or in a small circular motion.Vibration: Osculating or shaking the muscles to stimulate nerve endings.

2. Choose the area that you'd like to massage. Lubricate the area with your massage lotion. Remember that if you use too much lotion it will be more difficult for you to apply deep pressure during the massage.

3. With relaxed hands, effleurage the area. Use deeper strokes when moving towards the heart and lighter strokes when moving away from the heart. Effleurage is a diagnostic stroke. As you massage pay close attention to what you're feeling in the muscle. Notice hot or cold areas, stiffness or lumpiness in the muscle tissue. You are looking for dysfunction in the muscle. You'll go back to these areas of dysfunction later with deeper and more detailed friction strokes.

4. Petrissage the thickest area or belly of the muscle you're working. This promotes blood flow and helps break up adhesions in the muscle.

5. Do friction strokes on the areas in the muscle where you felt dysfunction. Try to loosen the tight tissue. Be sure not to overwork it.

6. End the massage with some tapotement or vibration. Sometimes tapotement can be jarring if the person you're massaging is very relaxed or sleeping. In these instances do vibration instead.

Tips & Warnings

• Communicate with the person you're massaging. Never work deeper than they feel comfortable.
• Massages aren't always the same. Experiment with the different strokes to see what works best for you and the person you're working on.
• Be sure to tell the person you massaged to drink plenty of water after the massage. This helps flush out any toxins that were released into the body during the massage.
• Make sure you are comfortable and not straining while giving the massage.
• Don't massage directly over the spine.
• Don't massage the back of the knee or the crease of the elbow.

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[rejuvenation]

on 8/3/2009 What an excellent description of the overall procedure. A great set of practitioners of this technique that will undoubtedly leave you satisfied can be found here: http://www.spaaura.com/swedish-massage-therapy.php. This is an incredibly awesome place to go.

[dhcox716]

on 7/17/2008 Great Article :)