Human touch is one of the most primal needs. Research has demonstrated that touch can enhance health and heal the body and mind (Freeman, 2009). As health care evolves and integrates the worlds of alternative and allopathic practitioners, therapeutic massage and bodywork healing methods are being integrated with health care in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice centers, and other healthcare facilities.
Techniques for massage and bodywork vary among practitioners; however, the objectives are similar: to relax; soothe; stimulate; and relieve physical, mental, emotional, and/or spiritual discomfort (Delany, 2015).
Trivieri and Anderson (2002) define the term bodywork as “therapies such as massage, deep tissue manipulation, movement awareness, and bioenergetic therapies, which are employed to improve the structure and functioning of the body” (p. 119). They add that the benefits of bodywork include pain reduction, musculoskeletal tension relief, improved blood and lymphatic circulation, and the promotion of deep relaxation.
Massage is soft tissue manipulation, including holding, causing movement, and/or applying pressure to the body. In general, massage therapists press, rub, and manipulate the muscles and other soft tissues of the body. They usually use their hands and fingers but may also use their forearms, elbow, or feet (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health [NCCIH)], 2018).
Massage has a complex and extensive history, with over 75 different types of massage and bodywork therapies. First practiced over 5,000 years ago in China and Mesopotamia, massage is a therapy that applies manual techniques and may apply additional alternative and complementary therapies with the intent to positively affect an individual’s health. One of the oldest forms of health practice, massage is derived from the Arabic, Greek, Hindi, and French words associated with touch, pressing, or shampooing (NCCIH, 2018).