Mike Harrison BSc (Hons) RCST DipLSSM

History

Massage has been in use for thousands of years, as part of wider medical practices and as a standalone treatment. In China, massage was known as early as 2760 BC. Hippocrates (460-360 BC) also recorded details of treatment, and the ancient Greeks are credited with giving massage wider social acceptance. The Roman physician Galen (131-201 AD) wrote extensively on the subject. Massage was also used by the ancient Egyptians and the practitioners of Indian Vedic medicine.

Traditional methods were lost in the Middle Ages, but European surgeons and physicians revived the use of massage from about the mid-sixteenth century. These practices have continued until the present day. The earlier Society of Trained Masseuses of 1894 was licensed by the Board of Trade in 1900, and, after extensive use of massage in the First and Second World Wars, became the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists in 1943.

Sports massage became popular as a therapy with the increase in health and fitness awareness in the 1980s and 1990s, and the wider availability of sporting facilities. Sports massage therapy differs from conventional massage only in terms of the conditions typically treated, but in fact sports massage techniques are sufficiently versatile to be used on any patient.