Types of 건마 Massages

There are a plethora of different types of 건마 massage promoted by the natural health industry. For beginners and those not familiar with the differences between the massage styles and techniques, the terminology can be confusing. This article provides a brief introduction to some of the more commonly promoted massage modalities.

Swedish Massage
Swedish massage uses long flowing strokes to reduce stress, both emotional and physical and is probably the best known type of massage. Other massages techniques such as kneading and tapotment are used in addition to the long flowing effleurage style strokes to produce either a relaxing and/or invigorating response.

Swedish massage is claimed to increase the flow of oxygen in the blood, increasing the circulation without increasing the load on the heart, stimulates the skins and soothes the nervous system.

Remedial Massage
Remedial Massage is considered to be a holistic treatment and incorporates massage and other techniques to treat a specific condition. The therapy assists in treating particular muscle tension caused by stress, overuse or injury. Remedial Massage helps increasing blood flow to injured tissues to facilitate the repair process.

Remedial Massage has both long and short-term impacts and benefits to the body. However, remedial massage therapists are not qualified to diagnose conditions and it is recommended that a diagnosis for a specific condition be obtained from appropriate specialists prior to visiting a remedial massage therapist.

Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue massage focuses on addressing the deeper layers of muscles and connective tissue, realigning and breaking up areas of muscular adhesion. Deep tissue massage attempts to release the chronic patterns of tension in the body through slow strokes and deep pressure on contracted muscles and connective tissue are as and the massage strokes either follow or go across the fibres of the muscles, fascia and tendons.

Some of the same strokes are used as classic massage therapy, but the movement is slower and the pressure is deeper and concentrated on areas of tension and pain. Deep tissue massage should not necessarily be painful although some experiences may be intense.

Sports Massage
Sports massage is intended to prevent and relieve injuries, strains and issues that are related to training and competition. Often it can be quite vigorous and it is not meant to be relaxing. The intention of sports massage is relieve and reduce stresses, tightness and tensions that can build up in the muscles while exercising. Techniques are employed that are aimed at increasing endurance and performance, whilst minimising the chance of injury (or if there is an injury then the objective of sports massage is to reduce the recovery time).