Massage—China
Massage is an ancient healing art in China. Archaeological studies show that as early as 2700 BCE the Chinese in the Huang (Yellow) River Valley were using massage for healing purposes. During the period of Warring States (475–221 BCE), a folk doctor, Bianqie, used massage and acupuncture successfully for a patient suffering from shock.
Methods of massage include rubbing, stroking, kneading, or tapping with the hands as well as with the healer's arm and elbow on the patient's body and extremities. The principles of massage developed alongside the essential principles of traditional Chinese medicine, that is, the theory of yin and yang, and the belief in flows of energy through the channels and the collaterals. In accord with these beliefs, massage is thought to not only heal an injury at one particular location but also to influence the entire body or other parts of the body through energy flowing through the channels and the collaterals that regulate the balance of yin and yang, correct the pathology and physiology of body fluid, qi (vital energy), and stimulate circulation. The effect of the manipulation is directly related to the methods used—mild or powerful manipulations, vigorous or soft performance, quick or slow frequency, direction of the force, and so forth. Currently, therapeutic massage is used in China as a conservative treatment for orthopedic disorders such as frozen shoulder, lumbago, protrusion of spinal disc, and joint sprains. Chinese orthopedic surgeons do not consider therapeutic massage and surgical treatment as opposites, but as complementary treatments. Therapeutic massage, using only the doctor's hands, relieves the patient's pain and avoids the side effects of chemical agents such as repeated local injections of steroids. It can also frequently eliminate the side effects of unnecessary surgical procedures. In most Chinese hospitals today, a section of massage treatment is often affiliated with the department of physical therapy.
Further Reading
Gulling, A. (1988) Essentials of Tuinaology: Chinese Medical Massage and Manipulation. Hilo, HI: Cao's Fire Dragon.
Feng, Tianyu. (1983) Treatment of Soft Tissue Injury with Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House.
Zhang, Enqin. (1990) Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Shanghai, China: Publishing House of the Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
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