It is probable that massage has existed in every country for thousands of years. You can just picture a caveman coming back from a hunt and his spouse massaging his shoulders and likewise when his wife has been up all night with a crying baby.

However, not each country is famous for a massage technique. Here is a list of some of the most well-known massage techniques.

The most common kind of massage in the USA, and presumably Sweden, is Swedish massage. This is probably because it is calming and relaxing. It means gently massaging oil into the body with the hands.

Similar to Swedish massage is aromatherapy or using perfumed oils for the massage. Lavender oil is very common for this type of massage because it is good for the relief of stress.

A few massage techniques use warm stones or pebbles. The masseur puts the warm pebbles on various points to relieve muscle pain and stress. Frequently the pebbles are put on the spine. Another variant of hot stone massage involves a gentle massage using the hands or the stones.

Deep tissue massage means massaging slowly with robust pressure across the grain of the muscle. Deep tissue massage is particularly useful for those with tight muscles, postural problems and repetitive strain injury. This type of massage is fairly rough and may make you ache for a day or two afterwards before you start feel better.

Shiatsu is one of the Japanese forms of massage therapy. It involves using the finger tips to apply pressure to acupuncture meridians. The pressure is applied for between two to eight seconds and is done on the same lines as acupuncture. It is soothing but does not cause soreness.

Thai massage is a bit like Shiatsu in that pressure is applied to pressure points but it differs in that joints are alternatively compressed and stretched in a similar fashion to yoga, but the masseur does all the work, the client merely has to supply a compliant, non-resisting body. Thai massage is fairly robust and many customers hurt for a day or two after a two hour session, but it can cure a bad back.

Far more gentle forms of massage are those types intended for babies and pregnant women. It is meant to relieve stress and anxiety rather than cure aching bones, joints and muscles. It is quite safe when practiced by someone who has been taught.

Reflexology is foot massage. Exponents of reflexology think that areas of the foot are related to internal organs and so massaging a part of the foot is as good as massaging, say, the heart.

On top of these are various types of sports massages and back massages which are specialized in that they just work on the region that is likely to have been injured in a particular sport. There are other types of massage too, like scalp and head massage, but these are the most popular.

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