Do you massage towards the heart or away?

Always stroke upwards toward the heart to enhance circulation. Try to keep your hands in contact with person’s leg throughout the massage. Avoid using a lot of pressure on areas where the bones are close to the surface, such as the knee.

What are the basic stroke of massage?

The first thing that every student must master is “the basics.” The four basic massage strokes are effleurage-(light or deep stroking), petrisage-(kneading), tapotement-(gentle slapping), and friction. Effleurage is meant for relaxation and the release of tension.

What direction should the massage be given?

Massage should be performed in movements going towards the heart, because it helps your circulatory system return blood to your heart and lungs to be re-oxygenated.

How do you massage your heart?

Wise and colleagues[6] recommend a 2-handed technique for internal cardiac massage: a flat hand is placed under the posterior heart surface, and the other hand is placed on the anterior heart surface. The heart is squeezed from the apex upward at a rate of approximately 100 beats per minute.

Is it possible to massage the heart?

Although the heart cannot be massaged directly, it can benefit from the effects of the muscles in your body relaxing. A relaxed heart provides numerous health benefits including lower blood pressure.

Does direction of massage matter?

When massaging, face the direction of the stroke with your toes, hips, shoulders and head aligned, and remember that your back foot should remain on the floor. Mohr suggests that massage therapists use the arm that is associated with the direction of the stroke, with the forward foot matching the arm being used.

What are the 5 basic massage strokes?

The Five Basic Strokes

• Effleurage. This type of massage stroke is a long gliding stroke.
• Petrissage. This type of massage stroke is often described as one in which the practitioner is kneading, rolling, wringing, and lifting the soft tissue being worked on.
• Friction.
• Tapotement.
• Vibration.

What are the five basic stroke?

Swedish technique consists of five basic strokes: effleurage (stroking), petrissage (kneading), friction, tapotement (percussion) and vibration, though all of these strokes are not used on every part of the body.

What is a massage sequence?

Such a sequence is simply a collection of individual techniques put together with the intention of achieving a specific effect or series of effects. Of the many massage sequences that are possible, the selection of techniques should, to a large extent, be determined by the specific treatment goals.

Can massage cause a stroke?

Deep muscle massages have been known to loosen arterial plaque. In other cases, massages have torn the wall of the carotid arteries, called dissection of an artery, leading to blood clots that, if dislodged, could travel to the brain, causing a blockage and stroke.

Why do we massage towards the heart?

By applying upward strokes towards the heart, it improves the lymphatic flow and drainage around the body. Lymphatic drainage can also speed up healing from injury and reduce swelling. Effleurage can also be used as a therapeutic technique. Effleurage effectively relaxes the body.

Did you know massage therapy is different for people with heart disease?

I bet you weren’t aware that massage therapy is different for people with heart disease. Heart disease is a group of conditions affecting the structure and functions of the heart and has many root causes.

What is the direction of pressurization during a stroke?

Pressure is sustained throughout the stroke and is always toward the heart to encourage venous return. On the return stroke, the hands should maintain light contact and avoid the same path taken by the upward stroke.

What is Massage Massage and how does it work?

Massage uses pressure to direct venous and lymphatic flow back towards the heart. It is therefore important that the movement is always in this direction so that there is no undue pressure on the closed valves in the veins.

What are the techniques used in massage therapy?

Massage Techniques. Massage techniques commonly employed include. The hands are passed rhythmically and continuously over a client’s skin, in one direction only, with the aim of increasing blood flow in that direction, stretching tissues, relaxing the client and aiding the dispersal of waste products.