Swedish Massage for the Upper Back

Series Summary

Massages are a great way to relax and reduce muscle tension. Swedish massage is a form of massage that was created to increase the circulation and blood flow of the body. Movements include long and flowing strokes that are often in the direction of the heart. These movements and strokes are called effleurage, petrissage, friction, tapotement, compression and vibration. There are often lubricants such as oil, cream or lotion used to reduce friction.

Watch these videos and learn how to perform sweeping massage movements that are associated with Swedish massage. See our expert demonstrate Swedish massage movements on the upper back, mid back, and lower back. See how this form of massage can help with vertebrae alignment, tension and other common back problems. Learn about the difference between deep tissue massage and Swedish massage. Get tips on spousal massage and everyday tasks you can do to keep your muscles in tune. If it is your first time for a massage, watch these videos to get comfortable with the process of Swedish massage.

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Kimberly Mann, on behalf of expertvillage.com. When you work on the person, you want to get to know them, and their back, and the problems of their back. So what you do is, if, let’s say the person is having problems up in this upper part of region of the back, that is contributed to people who sit at a computer all day, mostly that. So what you are going to do is focus on that area, like so…you apply. Now, mostly people are going to want deep tissue just to get out the knots and the lactic acid. So what you want to do first is start out real slow, you want to warm up the muscle, it is like a rubber band. So when you do do this, the muscle is all ready and it is going to allow you to go deeper after at least about 15 to 20 minutes. And then you start going a little heavier, and if the muscle itself in this region is really, really tight, just stick with the Swedish, and just lean a little heavier and long strokes. And what you do to one side you must do to the other side. "