Felix Kersten (1898-1960), sometimes referred to as a doctor but most often as a masseur, is responsible for saving the lives of countless human beings during World War II. As personal physician to the Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler, Kersten administered massage he learned from a Tibetan practitioner, Dr. Ko. Kersten called this method “manual therapy” or “nerve therapy.” Through his ministrations to Himmler, Kersten was able to convince the SS boss to avert plans to send millions to their death. His contribution to the massage field is as its greatest humanitarian.

The United States is at war [as of this writing]. During the debate, and now that the war is underway, many pundits have compared this war with World War II; Hitler, the Nazi’s and their atrocities against humanity. These acts stand out as the best examples of man’s worst inhumanity. Few examples from World War II, though, have pointed to the best positive examples of man’s great humanity in the face of war. In this special segment of Pages from History we look at a war hero from pages in the history of massage, Kersten and his contribution to the war effort while doing massage among the enemy.

The latest book about the time Kersten spent among the Nazis during WWII is called The Devil’s Doctor, in reference to his chief patient, Reichfuhrer SS Himmler, head of the Nazi SS forces. Himmler, among others in the Nazi headquarters in Berlin, suffered from severe abdominal pains, and only Kersten could provide the periodic relief that not only kept the Reichfuhrer at work, but contributed to saving countless lives from the dreaded Nazi regime.

One story of how Kersten was able to get Himmler to be a co-conspirator against his own regime is reminiscent of the now famous Schindler’s list. Kersten and his cohorts would make a list of people they wanted exempted from the concentration camps and the inevitable death ovens. The list would be several pages long, but always with ample space on each page and above Himmler’s signature line to add more names after the Reichsfuhrer would sign off on the list after Kersten had given him relief from the severe abdominal pain suffered regularly by Himmler.

Kersten became so bold in his ministrations of relief to Himmler that he was able to plea-bargain for the lives of his friends, government officials in his homeland and other important and often ordinary people who came to his attention.

Only the nerve therapy that Kersten administered worked to give Himmler any freedom from the debilitating pain. Other of Himmler’s staff were patient to Kersten’s ministrations, and from these ongoing sessions he developed a loyalty to his cause and betrayal to the Nazi regime that was never successfully squashed because of his close relationship with Himmler, who became his protector and protagonist.

Before the war, Kersten was a manual therapist with a high degree of success among the elite of Finland, Holland and Sweden. By referral from a friend and patient he was introduced to Himmler little more than three years before the war was to end. Kersten didn’t want to treat Himmler, whom he knew well was a powerful and ruthless man of the Nazi regime. But refusing such a person was tantamount to a death warrant for him and his family and so he did treat Himmler which resulted in the Reichsfuhrer insisting that he continue to treat him as his personal physician. Kersten himself makes no claims to be a physician, but a manual therapist trained in massage in Sweden and nerve therapy by the Tibetan Dr. Ko. It is evident from the numerous books written about the war activities of Kersten, that Dr. Ko was a pivitol figure in his life who after teaching him the techniques that would provide Kersten with the opportunities to save millions from the Nazi death squads, disappeared almost as suddenly as he had appeared in Kersten’s life.

After treating Himmler for a year or so, Kersten was able to establish a secret network of communications utilizing Nazi telephones and travel to and from Sweden, England, Holland and Finland, consulting with government and military sources because of his unique position within the Nazi headquarters of Berlin. He was forced to move to Germany with his family, but was given a spacious farmhouse and property, which, despite Nazi regulations against it, was used to help prisoners of war held near the farm by providing them with work opportunities away from the compound. These and many other privileges were afforded Kersten from the protection he had from treating Himmler.

Kersten wrote a memoir of his experience with the Nazi regime and in one passage attempts to explain the pains of his patient: “His [Himmler’s] severe stomach convulsions were not, as he supposed, simply due to a poor constitution or to overwork; they were rather the expression of this psychic division which extended over his whole life. I soon realized that while I could bring him momentary relief. I could never achieve a real cure. The basic cause of these convulsions was not removed, was indeed constantly being aggravated.”

Kersten’s war activities, in contradiction to Nazi interests, were not without risk. Himmler’s counterpart hated Kersten’s special relationship with Himmler and made every attempt to thwart Kersten, even attempting to murder him on one occasion. Kersten lived in constant threat of being exposed, but always it was the caring ministrations and intimate counsel the sessions with Himmler provided that vouchsafed him during each and every effort he made to save lives. His manipulations of Himmler were physical, emotional and political, and resulted in Kersten receiving the highest awards from Sweden, England and Finland for his ability to use Himmler to act against the horrendous interests of the Nazi regime. And so Kersten will always stand tall in the history of massage as its first and greatest humanitarian.s

References: The Devil’s Doctor, John H. Waller, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002.The Schellenberg Memoirs, edited and translated by Louis Hagen, Andre Deutsch, 1946. The Kersten Memoirs, by Felix Kersten, 1940-1945, Macmillan, 1957.

The Pompeian Manufacturing Company began in a small drugstore on the outskirts of Cleveland, Ohio, in the late 19th century. Among its product line, the Pompeian Massage Cream was a favorite with barbers around the world - even though it was promoted to men and women alike.

Pharmacist Fred W. Stecher, the son of a German immigrant, created the soothing after-shave massage cream in the back room of his small drugstore on the west side of Cleveland. But it was Otto F. Leopold, who after Stecher’s death would become president of the company, who led the creation of its famous “Pompeian Beauty of the Year” contest. Film star Mary Pickford was one of the first Pompeian beauties to grace the advertisements of the company, and helped Leopold to become one of America’s early cosmetic tycoons.

In 1927 the Pompeian Manufacturing Company was sold to Colgate Palmolive Peet for $1 million. Six months later the entire Pompeian line of products was discontinued and the legacy of Pompeian Massage Cream and its “Pompeian Beauty” ended. But the legacy was the first great advertising campaign using the word massage in its product name. From the examples shown here you can get an idea of the broad approach the company took in marketing its Pompeian Massage Cream product.

Today the Pompeian Massage Cream jars, sample tins, ads and posters are considered collectable antiques. The World of Massage Museum has collected over 150 distinct ads from this legacy. View a few of the more interesting advertisements for your education and enjoyment.

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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press.

Medical lore was passed down from generation to generation long before human beings settled in mud huts or crude villages between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers nearly 10,000 years ago. In these early and subsequent civilizations, members of the priestly classes were the keepers of most knowledge, especially that related to the healing arts-spiritual and physical. They were the overseers of the welfare of the people, and healing practices were intricately tied to their religious rituals.

The shaman was the first identifiable priest-physician. Today most people think of the shaman as a medicine man, sorcerer or witch doctor, dancing amid beating drums, chants, and the rattling of beads and charms. The image of the shaman is that of a primitive, archaic, outdated, bizarre and mysterious man. But the true picture of the shaman is far from this myopic and masculine view. The shaman is a noble figure in history, and both men and women have served their people in this venerable role. The shaman was the first undisputed champion of magico-religious life in society. It is from the ritualized healing practices of the shaman that civilized societies have inherited nearly all their healing arts.

In ancient times disease was believed to be caused by demons, spirits or the sinful acts of the patient. This concept of disease was based on something magically put into the body or magically taken from it. Despite the use of herbal remedies, ritual was a significant aspect of treatment—the superior power of one magic over another was regarded as the curing factor. The shaman was both diagnostician and treating physician. Massage was used in these rituals as a part of the overall treatment for a disease. It was a form of coaxing, or intimate and personal coercion, by use of the skilled hands of the practitioner to cleanse or chase demons from the body.

In The Epic of Medicine, medical historian Felix Marti-Ibanez, M.D., writes, “Magic represented man’s earliest attempts to use his own strength to solve the problems of health and disease … Also used in therapy were fruit, cereals, spices, flowers (garlic, roses, oats, laurel, and tamarind), mineral and animal substances, massage, plasters and baths.” The fundamental remnants of an archaic past remain evident in the practices of contemporary shamanic ritual healing. Modern shamans, according to an expert on the subject, Mircea Eliade, retain many of the same attributes and methods used by their ancient counterparts.

The antecedent priest-physician method of rubbing prior to the Greeks was to rub down—rub, brush, blow, or suck to move evil spirits or the invading sickness from the core of the body toward and out the extremities. The Greeks altered this tradition to conduct the rubbings from the extremities inward to the center of the body, so waste materials that would contain disease were removed through the alimentary tract with the movement of vibration and friction, assisted with proper diet, rest and plenty of water.

John Harvey Kellogg, writing in 1895, criticizes a Japanese practitioner because he worked toward the extremities instead of in the direction of the blood flow toward the heart. “He is to be criticised, however, for one serious fault in his operations—that of [rubbing] down, instead of up. A portion of the good done is thus neutralized, one object of scientific massage being to help back toward the center the blood which is lingering in the superficial veins.”

Greek physician and the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates (480 B.C.), used the Greek word anatripsis, which translates into English as “to rub up.” Hippocrates stroked the extremities upward (toward the heart), followed by a light stroke back, and then another upward stroke to push the venous and lymph toward the heart. These strokes could be hard, soft, or moderate, depending on the condition of the tissues and the effect desired. Hippocrates was specific about the effects of each of these methods of anatripsis, saying, “Friction can relax, brace, incarnate, attenuate: hard braces, soft relaxes, much attenuates, and moderate thickens.”

This is not, however, the end of the story. Today we find, as did Kellogg a little more than a century ago, indigenous people from around the world continuing the ancient shamanic tradition of rubbing down along with the modern practitioner using the tradition of rubbing up begun by Hippocrates.

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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press.

Most of those doing massage and other touch therapies around the world today know little if anything about the history of the work they do. Massage schools seldom offer more than a few hours of historical background to educate those entering the field. Perhaps this is because those teaching received the same scant education about the subject. Just like many other healing arts, massage has a long and informative history, but it has been mostly forgotten and is rarely discussed. There is too little knowledge and a lot of misinformation about the past of this important and incredible field.

The history of massage is intertwined with human evolution and human history. Since prehistoric time, touch has been an integral part of the primate social system, initially as an element of grooming behaviors. During the long transition from primate grooming behaviors to human contact systems, touch took on other characteristics. As human beings evolved to develop organized civilizations, touch was transformed into a variety of archaic healing ways, eventually into intentional healing methods.

Manual treatment as a remedy for disease is believed to be as old as humankind. The most common proof offered as evidence for this claim is a very simple one—humans instinctively respond to pain by touching where it hurts. In all ages and all places, in all cultures, human beings reach for the spot that hurts and rub it, usually making it feel better. This reflexive response to pain serves as a validation that massage is as old as humanity.

Since the time when human beings inherited socially laden grooming behaviors from their primate ancestors and evolved them into more complex and structured manual arts, massage has always been part of a larger picture. It has been an integral part of various aspects of human life, including religious and healing rituals; healing arts such as midwifery, medicine and hydrotherapy; exercise and movement; and the pleasurable pursuits of sensuality.

Massage was not advocated nor practiced as a singular therapeutic tool until modern times. The shaman rubbing evil spirits out of the body; the deaconess laying on her hands to inspire the healing power of the Holy Spirit; the midwife soothing a mother from the pains of childbirth; the trainer preparing for and administering after athletic pursuits; the nurse applying a healing balm in battle or the bath; the doctor treating an injury with a liniment or mechanical treatment; the woman applying healing and soothing creams to her skin for beauty and health; a couple stroking each other as part of the rituals of sexual behavior; and any person touching another simply for feeling good and getting relaxed - massage was a part of the repertoire of each of these activities before it broke free in the 19th century. It remains a complement to them all even though it is now recognized as a stand-alone therapeutic tool.

Massage has played a significant role in the history of medicine, midwifery, nursing, exercise, movement and sports. It is also evident in the advertising and use of a variety of products, from mechanical inventions to liniments and tonics, as well as in the professional practices of barbers and beauticians. We can also find evidence of massage in sculpture and painting by renowned artists such as Edgar Degas and Emil Orlik. Look at almost any ad today for a spa and you’ll likely find an image of a massage in progress. Massage is the modern-day icon for relaxation. It is the penultimate comparison with any other form of relaxation, from drinking tea to wearing shoes.

The richness of its history, the longevity of its existence in human history and the use of its imagery and relaxing results have inspired countless generations. Is it a subject worth studying alongside technique, anatomy and physiology, and contraindications. Indeed, the history of massage deserves much more attention than it currently receives in order to inspire the next generation of practitioners, who will be informed to tell the story of their work accurately and proudly.

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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press.

Many definitions of massage can be found in the literature and regulatory archives of modern times, but there is no known definition of massage from the ancient world. Gertrude Beard and Elizabeth Wood, professors of physical medicine at Northwestern University Medical School and authors of the well-known book Massage: Principles and Techniques (1964), assert that “the early medical literature is devoid of any comprehensive definition of massage.” They also claim that ?there is little description of massage movements in the early literature.” However, Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.E.), widely regarded as the father of medicine and a renowned advocate of massage, wrote about the use of friction in the treatment of many ailments, as well as about its physiological effects: “Rubbing has the effect of relaxing, constricting, thickening, and thinning; hard rubbing constricts, soft relaxes, much rubbing thins, and moderate thickens.” The ancient Greeks used techniques that they called anatripsis and frictio. The word anatripsis - meaning “to rub up” - represents a transitional period in the history of massage (see Pages From History, “Rubbing up vs. Rubbing Down.”)

Greek physicians performed anatripsis on patients suffering from intestinal ailments and on athletes suffering from waste buildup in their muscles. Today we use anatripsis in much the same way, even though we have our own word for it and have developed more techniques and better rationale to describe its effects. The ancient physician Claudius Galenus, commonly known as Galen (131-201 C.E.), was a strong proponent of the Hippocratic method. In his extensive writings about massage he did not provide a definition; however, in his De Saniotate Tuenda (Hygiene) he did give descriptions of massage from which we might draw elements of a definition. He wrote that the objective is “to soften the body” before exercise. “And the rubbings should be of many sorts, with strokes and circuits [sic] of the hands, carrying them not only from above down and from below up, but also subvertically, obliquely, transversely, and subtransversely.” He goes on to give more details about how the hands should move “from every direction.”

From these instructions we can conclude that massage as practiced by the Greeks was a manual treatment of the body utilizing a variety of hand techniques. There are also references to utilizing cloth and water during the rubbings which expand the definition from the ancient to include the use of tools and mediums other than the human hands. The descriptions of massage have changed between the time of the ancient physician and the modern practitioner, but the essence of massage has remained unchanged - the application of human hands or another object to the superficial skin of a recipient for the purposes of rendering remedial or palliative aid.

Although positive references to the healing power of touch can be found in historical documents in many fields, the first lucid descriptions of the movements of massage, such as friction and rubbing, were given by the French physician Joseph-Clement Tissot. Writing in his 1770 classic text on exercise, Tissot devotes more than 20 pages to the subject of “friction, rubbing, kneading and alternate compressions.” He does not use the word massage because the word had not yet been created. Even so, Tissot expounds on the ancient virtues and modern benefits of the movements that make up, in large part, what we now know as massage.

During the latter half of the 19th century medical doctors in Europe and America began writing about the benefits of massage. As more physicians were introduced to the domain of manual therapeutics the terminology of the practice began to change, reflecting the physicians’ disdain for common massage; the commonly used terms were gradually replaced by more medically oriented terms. For example, rubbing, a term used in 1866 by Walter Johnson, became medical rubbings by the 1880s. By the turn of the century medical rubbing was replaced by Massage with a capital M. The distinction between massage with a little m and Massage with a big M reflects the physicians’ dislike of gymnasts, or “common rubbers” as they were called. The doctors argued that the massage done by gymnasts did not have the credibility of the massage used medically because only someone trained and/or supervised by a physician could be considered properly doing massage.

Thomas’s Medical Dictionary of 1886 defines massage in this terse way: “Massage, from the Greek, meaning to knead. Signifying the act of shampooing.” There is evidence in other historical texts that shampooing initially meant massaging or rubbing; only later did it come to mean cleaning the hair with special products.

George H. Taylor, M.D., in his 1887 book, Massage: Principles and Practice of Remedial Treatment by Imparted Motion, writes: “The word massage denotes any process of conjoint motion and pressure applied to parts of the living body, for remedial purposes. Massage implies some source from which the pressure-motion is derived arising from insufficient muscular action of the usual forms.”

Taylor was very concerned in his book with what he called “motor-energy,” derived from “nutrition” and responsible for all motion or power of the body. “The motor power of the human hand,” he affirms, “easily lends itself to this generous purpose; and it thus, almost by instinct, but in strict conformity with scientific principles and purposes, reinforces the vital needs and waning energies of the suffering.”

Douglas Graham, M.D., American Medical Association member and author of Manual Therapeutics, A Treatise on Massage (1890), defines massage in this way: “Massage is a term now generally accepted by European and American physicians to signify a group of procedures which are best done with the hands, such as friction, kneading, manipulating, rolling, and percussion of the external tissues of the body in a variety of ways, either with a curative, palliative or hygienic object in view.”

Although not specified in most definitions, these early authors also limited massage movements to those performed solely by the hands, often as an adjunct to other therapies in the treatment of disease. In his 1895 book, The Art of Massage, John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, states, “Massage, or systematic rubbing and manipulation of the tissues of the body, is probably one of the oldest of all means used for the relief of bodily infirmities.” He also provides several terms related to the word massage, as well as their “right and proper” pronunciations: Massage is a noun, the literal meaning of which is kneading, as a baker kneads bread. This word, like many other terms relating to massage, is derived directly from the French. It retains its French pronunciation, and is pronounced as though spelled mas-sahzh, and not as though spelled massaj or massaje, which is so frequently heard.

Masser is a verb, meaning the act of applying massage.

Pe’trissage is pronounced as though spelled pa-tris-sahzh. It is a French term applied to deep kneading, as distinguished from superficial kneading.

Tapotement is pronounced nearly as though spelled tah-pote-mont, and indicates the act of percussion.

Effleurage is pronounced as though spelled ef-flur-ahze. It means light friction.

Noah Webster’s 1899 An American Dictionary of the English Language does not contain the word massage. It does define friction first as the act of rubbing two objects together to produce heat; second, as the scientific meaning of mechanical rubbing of two moving objects; and third, “In medicine, the rubbing of the body with the hand, or with a brush, flannel, etc., or the rubbing of a diseased part with oil, unguent, or other medicament.? Rub is also referred to as ?the act of rubbing, friction.”

Axel V. Grafstrom, M.D., in his 1904 book, A Text-book of Mechano-Therapy, writes, “By massage we understand a series of passive movements on the patient’s body, performed by the operator for the purpose of aiding nature to restore health. These passive movements are friction, kneading, percussion, stretching, pressure, vibration, and stroking.” Grafstrom used bold test in his book to assist students in finding key words for their studies.

Emil G. Kleen, M.D., of Sweden, a contemporary of Graham, defines massage in his 1921 edition of Massage and Medical Gymnastics as “a manipulation or handling of the soft tissues by movable pressure in the form of stroking, rubbing, pinching, kneading or beating performed with a therapeutic aim. This is generally applied by hand, but can, of course, also be given by means of instruments and apparatus of different kinds.”

Thomas Stedman, M.D.’s 1936 edition of A Practical Medical Dictionary defines massage as “a scientific method of manipulation of the body by rubbing, pinching, kneading, tapping, etc.; it is employed in therapeutics to increase metabolism, promote absorption, stretch adhesions, etc.”

And finally, a typical late 20th century dictionary defines massage as “act or art of treating the body by rubbing, kneading, or the like, to stimulate circulation, increase suppleness, etc.”

We can see from these definitions a clear transition of terms and descriptions from the earlier examples. Even though the definitions become more succinct, they are broader in scope and in the end also provide examples of the benefits of massage.

Contemporary definitions of massage in the new textbooks seem to take a different course than historic definitions by extended definitions that attempt to include all manner of techniques and applications, as well as a growing list of effects. But none of the definitions found in regulations or textbooks provide a comprehensive historic definition of massage, nor do they include the indirect effects.

Massage: From the Greek word massein (to knead). The manipulation of the body by kneading, stroking, friction, percussion, vibration and other methods applied with the hands, feet, elbows, forearms, or with tools such as stone, wood, ceramic, ivory, metal, bone, or devices that operate by hand-crank, steam, battery or electric power; and the use of water, herbs, salts and muds, any and all of which may produce directly or indirectly various therapeutic effects, feelings of pleasure or pain, a sense of being nurtured and supported, an uplift of the spirit, and general well-being. Massage may also be applied adjunctively with other therapeutic measures such as physical therapy, dentistry, chiropractic and any stress- management regimen.

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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press.

During the 1930s the use of electricity for body treatments was quite prevalent, especially in England. A number of books were written between 1928 and 1938 on the subject of medical electricity. One of these, by Hugh Morris, M.D., Medical Electricity for Massage Students, draws upon his experience as an examiner for the Chartered Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics and from many lectures given at the School of Massage at the Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester. His book is an excellent source of information about this very technical subject.

The use of electricity in the treatment of muscle and nerve conditions was based on the premise that stimulation of this sort helped maintain good circulation of blood supply, as well as prevent adhesions in tendon sheaths. In cases where voluntary movement was not possible - fractures, for example - electrical stimulation of the muscles provided the necessary movement to keep circulation going and prevent adhesions. There were several views about whether muscle contractions needed to be seen when applying electrical current, but most experts believed that they did not because the fibrils were moved by the current without shortening the muscle fibers as a whole, and this was sufficient to provide the needed therapy.

Hydro-electric bath treatments are not so common today in Europe, and are now virtually unknown in North America; they are a lost art. In the great bath-houses of America, represented by those on bath-house row in Arkansas’ Hot Springs National Park, however, they were once quite common, as evidenced by the relics left from the bygone era of the post-Victorian age (1902-1920).

The main purpose of the hydro-electric bath was to provide “a very useful method of applying the electric current to large areas of the body,” Morris wrote, adding that, “[i]t allows … the painless application of much larger currents than is possible with the use of pads and electrodes.” There were two kinds of electric baths: local and general. The local provided for treatment of smaller areas, such as the legs or arms only, while the general allowed for full-body treatments, or treatments of the upper or lower torso.

Electrical current transmitted through the medium of water also allowed the patient to be kept warm, and eliminated the need for spending a lot of time putting on bandages and removing them, which was often the case with local treatments. (In applying electrical current to the body without using the medium of water, bandages were applied to the afflicted area to be treated so that electric probes or pads could be applied within the bandage to help control voltage and prevent electrical burns on the skin.) And water, being an excellent conductor of electrical current, provided an uninterrupted contact with the body to which the voltage was applied.

Your body, which is made of 70 percent water, is also an excellent conductor of electricity. Since electricity seeks the shortest pathway to the ground, if you come in contact with an electric current it will jump to you, causing a painful, and sometimes fatal, shock. Bath tubs used for full-body hydro-electric treatments were specially designed to prevent the electricity from grounding into the earth and thus causing fatal electric shock to the patient. The legs were set upon rubber pads. The water pipes came from the ceiling or under the floor so the patient could not inadvertently touch them and become grounded. Water was placed in the tub prior to the patient entering and no additional water was allowed in the tub after the patient was immersed in it. Even the drain pipe and often the inlet water pipes had breaks in them so that no contiguous metal was running from the tub to an earth ground. And finally, the operator giving the bath was not allowed to touch the tub or the patient once the electrical current was turned on.

The electric current used in the hydro-electric baths was of several kinds: surging faradic, surging sinusoidal, constant current, interrupted galvanic current, or a combination of two types of current. The faradic is an alternating current, flowing for a time in one direction, then in the opposite direction, but it is an unequal phase of current that distinguishes it from the equal phase of alternating current, which is sinusoidal. Constant current is one in which the electrons flow in one direction between two points in a constant stream. The galvanic current is synonymous with constant current, except that it is interrupted or surged depending on the application.

Treatment using electrical current applied through the medium of water consists of using 100 degrees Fahrenheit tap water. The amount of water is important. Too much water reduces the flow of current to the patient’s body, and too little water does not allow the affected areas to be treated. A milliammeter or the formation of bubbles of hydrogen at the cathode (the electrodes inserted into the water to provide the proper current) indicate the proper flow of current to the patient. Treatments last about half an hour, during which the electrical flow is gradually turned down until it is at zero when the treatment ends. The patient is then taken out of the tub and given a brisk rub with a towel. A cooling-down period is required to prevent chills. Treatments are usually given once a week or more, depending on the case. Tiredness or depression afterward indicates too much electrical current was applied.

This type of full-body bath was not widely used because of the dangers involved. So, other methods were devised for more local and safer treatments. One of these was the Schnee Four-Cell Bath. Control of current to each tub allows this hydro-electric bath to provide specialized treatment to each extremity. It also allows the patient to remain dressed. Current flowing through one arm may be exited through the leg or other arm, depending on the desired effect for the condition being treated.

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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press.

From an article in the 1917 issue of the Annals of Medical History by M. Jastrow: “The evolution of medicine from magic to religion to empiricism to science is recognized in the history of massage. The phases are often difficult to distinguish, notably in ancient cultures. Characteristic is the following reference to Babylonian-Assyrian medicine: “If a man has cramps … place his head downwards and his feet [under him], manipulate his back with the thumb, saying ‘be good,’ manipulate his arms 14 times, manipulate his head 14 times, rolling him on the ground … Massage must have been recognized as beneficial in certain cases, but the point of view necessarily was that what was good for the patient was bad for the demon. The drugs, the poultices, the hot and cold douches and the massage all were supposed to act not on the patient but on the demon who was in this way to be forced out or to be coaxed out.”

Robert Montraville Green, M.D., a Harvard Medical School Professor of Anatomy has translated the ancient physician Galen’s book, Hygiene. In Galen’s words, “If, therefore, he is completely rested, it is superfluous to massage or anoint him, unless it were necessary to overcome extreme cold; for then we shall prepare him with massage, just like those who are going to employ cold bathing. But if there should be any sense of fatigue, it has been said before that then it is necessary to anoint and to massage gently. And so also if he were drier than desirable, he should be anointed with sweet oil; for this moistens the dry skin. And he should be massaged little, but with neither firm nor gentle massage. For we want the administration only to favor digestion, not to change the condition of the skin or of the flesh [muscle], nor to eliminate any of the excrements in them. But gentle massage does both, and firm massage the former, for it thickens and toughens the skin, whereas gentle massage purges and makes the body relaxed and soft.”

In 1785, C. E. Savary, a Frenchman, wrote about his experiences receiving massage in Egypt. This quote is taken from Dr. Douglas Graham’s 1902 Manual Therapeutics: A Treatise on Massage. “Perfectly masseed, one feels completely regenerated, a feeling of extreme comfort pervades the whole system, the chest expands, and we breathe with pleasure; the blood circulates with ease, and we have a sensation as if freed from an enormous load; we experience a suppleness and lightness ’til then unknown. It seems as if we truly lived for the first time. There is a lively feeling of existence which radiates to the extremities of the body, whilst the whole is given over to the most delightful sensations; the mind takes cognizance of these, and enjoys the most agreeable thoughts; the imagination wanders over the universe which it adorns, sees everywhere smiling pictures, everywhere the image of happiness. If life were only a succession of ideas, the rapidity with which memory retraces, them, the vigor with which the mind runs over the extended chain of them, would make one believe that in the two hours of delicious calm which follow a great many years have passed.”

George H. Taylor, M.D., a late 19th-century physician who advocated exercise for health, provides this description of shampooing in his book, Health by Exercise, as the practice was experienced by English residents living in India during his time: “The English who reside in India frequently give accounts of the shampooing and friction, which they find a great source of delight as well as of health. The person receiving the operation is extended on a seat, while the operator manipulates his members, as he would knead dough for bread. He then strikes him lightly with the side of the hand, applies perfume and friction, and terminates by cracking the joints of the fingers, toes, and neck. After this operation, the subject experiences a sensation of ineffable happiness and energy. It is said that the Indian ladies seldom pass a day without being thus shampooed by their slaves.”

I’ve taken this version of a well-known story from Dr. Douglas Graham’s book, Manual Therapeutics: A Treatise on Massage: “The wise and able Emperor Hadrian, AD. 76-138, who will be so well-remembered as having built the wall from the Solway Frith to the Tyne, and whose reign was distinguished by peace and beneficent energy, one day saw a veteran soldier rubbing himself against the marble at the public baths, and asked him why he did so. The veteran answered, “I have no slave to rub me,” whereupon the emperor gave him two slaves and sufficient to maintain them. Another day several old men rubbed themselves against the wall in the emperor’s presence, hoping for similar good fortune, when the shrewd Hadrian, perceiving their object, directed them to rub one another!”

Avicenna (980-1037) was a great Persian physician. In his book, the Canon Medicinae, an encyclopedic attempt at collecting all known medical knowledge, he writes in chapter four, entitled “Of Friction,” “One kind of friction is hard, which enlarges or thickens; another is gentle, which loosens. One is prolonged, which causes thinness; another is moderate, which fattens. When these are combined, corresponding results will be produced.”

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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press

The following are notations and descriptions of massage from a variety of writers, places and time periods.

Walter Johnson writes in 1866 about massage during the time of the ancient physician Galen 130-201 AD: “The usual routine was this: The youth was first rubbed by the paidotribes with oil; this process was called the preparatory rubbing - tripsis paraskeuastike. He then proceeded to some of the lighter exercises, as playing at ball; after which he sprinkled himself with Egyptian dust, and sought a companion (sungumnastes) to wrestle with. When sufficiently exercised, he passed into the room of the anointer (aleiptes), who by aid of the stlengis, or strigil, as the Romans called it, helped him to scrape off his dust, oil, and sweat, and then rubbed him again with oil, which process was called apotherapeia. This done, he entered the warm bath, and after a short stay proceeded to the cold bath, and from the cold bath he returned to the aleiptes, who anointed him a second time, and sent him about his business. It ought never to be forgotten that the aleiptes regulated the diet of every pupil, prescribing in the exact quantity and quality and time of every meal. It is not my intention to enter into details on the subject of the gymnasium; but I am compelled thus briefly to allude to it in order to render intelligible what remains to be said about gymnastic friction. Gymnastic or hygienic friction, then, consisted in the preparatory friction - tripsis paraskeuastike, and the friction which followed the exercises - apotherapeia.

“The former is thus described by Galen: “Hence if anyone, immediately after undress, proceed to the more violent movements before he has softened the whole body, and thinned the excretions, and opened the pores, he incurs the danger of breaking or spraining some of the solid parts. [Galen refers here to pre-event massage meant to warm the muscles by activity and increased circulation which in turn loosens them to help avoid injury from the muscles being cold.] There is danger also of the excretions, in the rush of moving spirits, blocking up the pores. But if beforehand you gradually warm and soften the solids and thin the fluids, and expand the pores, the person exercising will run no danger of breaking any part, nor of blocking up the pores [Again, increasing circulation, but here also opening the pores so elimination can occur without obstruction through the process of sweating]. Hence, in order to insure this result, it is proper, by moderate rubbing with a linen cloth, to warm the whole body beforehand, and then to rub with oil. For I do not counsel the immediate application of the grease before the skin is warmed and the pores expanded, and, generally speaking, before the body is prepared to receive the oil; and this will be accomplished by a very few turns of the hands, without pain and moderately quick, having in view to warm the body without compressing it; for you will perceive while this is being done a blooming redness running over the whole skin; and then is the time to apply the grease to it, and rub with bare hands, observing a medium hardness and softness, in order that the body may not be contracted and compressed, nor loosened and relaxed beyond the fitting extent, but be kept in its natural state [The application of oil after warming the skin was to help absorb the healing qualities of the oil].

“And one should at first rub quietly, and afterwards gradually increasing it, push the strength of the friction so far as evidently to compress the flesh, but not to bruise it. But it is not proper to apply such strong friction for a long time, but once or twice to each part; for we do not rub so as to harden the body of the boy, whom we are now training for the exercises, but to excite it to activity and augment its tone, and contract its porousness; for it is proper to preserve his body in a medium state, and by no means to make it hard or dry, lest we should by chance check somewhat of the natural growth. [This is classic pre-event sports massage—not too much massage to soften or relax, just enough to heighten the body for activity, but not over excite it so it looses energy.]

“But in the process of time, when the youth is entering upon manhood, then we shall use harder friction and cold baths, after the gymnastic exercises; but of this we will speak again. In using friction preparatory to the gymnastic exercises, the use of which is to soften the body, the middle quality between hard and soft should prevail, and all else should take its fashion accordingly. And in the imposition and circumflexion of the hands the rubbing should be very varied, and not merely directed from above to below, nor from below to above, but also slanting and oblique, transverse and sub-transverse … and it will make no difference whether you use the expression, tripsis (rubbing), or anatripsis (rubbing up, or as we should say, rubbing down), seeing that the latter is more usual among the ancients and the former among the moderns … [Ancients refers to those who came before the Greek physicians, moderns to those since Hippocrates.] Rubbing which prepares for gymnastic exercises, and that which follows the same, is subservient to the exercises. The former heats and moderately opens the pores, and liquefies the excretions retained in the flesh, and softens the solid parts, and this is termed preparatory or paraskeuastic rubbing. But the other is termed after-ministering (apotherapeutic); and as it is applied with a larger amount of oil, it at the same time moistens by means of the grease, and softens the solid parts and carries off what is contained in the pores … ” (The term flesh meant muscles.)

Charles Nordhoff, in his 1874 book, Northern California, Oregon and the Sandwich Islands, provides a description of Hawaiian massage, called Lomi-Lomi; “Wherever you stop for lunch or for the night, if there are native people near, you will be greatly refreshed by the application of lomi-lomi. Almost everywhere you will find someone skilled in this peculiar and, to tired muscles, delightful and refreshing treatment. To be lomi-lomied you lie down upon a mat or undress for the night. The less clothing you have on, the more perfectly the operation can be performed. To you thereupon comes a stout native with soft, fleshy hands, but a strong grip, who, beginning with your head and working down slowly over the whole body, seizes and squeezes with a quite peculiar art every tired muscle, working and kneading with indefatigable patience, until in half an hour, whereas you were weary and worn out, you find yourself fresh, all soreness and weariness absolutely and entirely gone, and mind and body soothed to a healthful and refreshing sleep.”

A friend of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg has provided a description of a Japanese massage received in Japan about 1885 “for the relief of a severe cold accompanied with fever: “The shampooer sat in Japanese fashion at the side of the patient, as the latter lay on a futon (thick comforter or quilt) on the floor, and began operations on the arm; then took the back and the back of the neck, afterward the head (top and forehead), and ended with the legs. On the arms, back, back of the neck, and legs, he used sometimes the tips of his fingers, sometimes the palms or the backs of his hands, sometimes his knuckles, sometimes his fists. The movements consisted of pinching, slapping, stroking, rubbing, knuckling, kneading, thumping, drawing in the hand, and snapping the knuckles. The rubbing in the vicinity of the ribs was slightly ticklish, and the knuckling on the back of the neck, and at the side of the collar bone, a little painful. On the head he used gentle tapping, a little pounding with his knuckles, stroking with both hands, holding the head tight for a moment, grasping it with one hand and stroking with the other. The operator seemed to have a good practical knowledge of physiology and anatomy, and certainly succeeded in driving away the headache and languor, in producing a pleasant tingling throughout the body, and in restoring the normal circulation of the blood …”

“The finger of a good rubber will descend upon an excited and painful nerve…as gently as dew upon the grass, but upon a torpid callosity as heavily as the hoof of an elephant … The fingers of a good workman dart from spot to spot like flies upon the surface of a pool. They never stay long on the same place, but are here, there, and everywhere, now rubbing lightly, now pressing heavily, now coaxing an angry nerve, now digging into a refractory callosity.”

- Walter Johnson, The Anatriptic Art (1866)
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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press.

In The Concise Encyclopedia of World History, editor John Bowle states that the first physicians in Rome were slaves. Most were of Greek heritage, many of them freed slaves originally taken from Greece when Rome conquered it. Because of their heritage, the social standing of Roman physicians was quite low. Also, as many early physicians were charlatans, offering ineffective cures, there was a deep mistrust of doctors. One citizen commented that the new doctor in town was previously an undertaker and that what he was doing as a doctor wasn’t much different than his work as an undertaker. Another contended that the doctor charged too much, used worthless medicines and drugs, and attempted to treat diseases for which he had no training or understanding.

Before the Greek physicians arrived, medicine was dispensed by a variety of Roman practitioners. Healing cures and surgery were administered by family slaves, often trained only by experience; by barber-surgeons, who used bleeding as a common practice; by priests, who exorcised or cajoled demons from the patient; and even by the slave masseurs, known as aleiptes. This latter category, like the family slave, was knowledgeable only through experience. These were times with no licensing (medical licensing would not arrive until 200 C.E.), and anyone who was willing to wield a scalpel did. The “masseur,” working without limits and established within the gymnasium or the facilities of a rich householder, was able to dally in the medical sciences without much fear of reprisal, except a diminished reputation if he failed too often.

Into this environment came the astute and educated Greek physicians, who eventually took over the treatment of Roman citizens and their leaders. But their rise to acceptance was not an easy one. It wasn’t until Julius Caesar “granted freedom to all freeborn Greek physicians practicing in Roman territory” in 46 B.C.E., wrote Douglas Guthrie, in A History of Medicine, that they were able to escape from the domination of their rich-household owners and the general scorn of the Romans, and rise to the heights of social and professional status.

Clear evidence of the role of massage in Roman medical treatment can be found in a letter to the emperor from Pliny the Elder (C.E. 23–79), a physician, telling about how his life was saved by the ministrations “of a medical practitioner who cured many of his patients by the process of rubbing and anointing.” He derived so much benefit “from the remedy that he asked the emperor to grant the physician, who was either a Jew or a Greek, the freedom of the city and the privileges of Roman citizenship,” wrote Douglas Graham, in Manual Therapeutics.

The influence of Hippocratic medical practice, including massage, continued in the work of a number of prominent Greek and Roman physicians. Thus medical practices of the time were built, as exemplified by the Hippocratic model, upon observation, trial and error, and especially on prescriptions for rest and proper diet. The theory of the four humors was still a working concept for most physicians, and the effects of massage fit well into their theories of circulation.

The Roman physician’s knowledge of anatomy was very limited, since the study of anatomy through human dissection was prohibited in the Roman Empire. (Dissection of animals was allowed, however.) Whatever human dissection was performed at the time was done primarily in Egypt, under the authority of the conquering ruler, Alexander the Great. A man named Marinus, of Alexandria, is most often cited as the expert dissector of these times.

At the beginning of the third century B.C.E. the bodies of condemned criminals were made available to physicians, such as Herophilus and Erasistratus in Rome. The nervous system, and especially the human brain, received the greatest attention, and it was during this time that many advances were made in the knowledge of human anatomy. Despite these early studies of anatomy, there is no evidence that anatomical knowledge played any part in the physicians’ use of massage, and anatomy was certainly unknown and irrelevant to those working in the baths and gymnasiums, since they received no medical education, nor did they treat any diseases.

Asclepiades (124–40 B.C.E.) was a Greek physician who settled in Rome to practice and teach medicine just before the dawn of the Christian era. Asclepiades was a most favored son of Greece and Rome; he was not a follower of Hippocrates and did not subscribe to Hippocrates’ natural medicine. A famous story about Asclepiades is one in which he supposedly brought back to life a Roman citizen being carried to his grave in a coffin. His cure for the apparent dead man has been described as “several minutes of manipulation,” wrote Sir William Osler in The Evolution of Modern Medicine. Perhaps Asclepiades’ success is related to his “corpuscular theory”; Asclepiades believed that life was the result of atoms constantly on the move within the body. Disease or death were caused by an obstruction of this movement. Thus his manipulation may well have been a simple jostling massage which woke up the “sleeping atoms” to bring his patient back to life. In writing about Asclepiades, Sir William Osler states, “Diet, exercise, massage, and bathing were his greatest remedies.”

Herman L. Kamenetz, writing in Manipulation, Traction and Massage, reports that massage was the third-most-important therapy used by Asclepiades, “after hydrotherapy and exercise … for abdominal pains Asclepiades said that the suffering parts should be rubbed with oil long and energetically to tolerance. To dispel the frigid torpor he advised that the parts be massaged with warm hands and then wrapped in cloth. For convulsions he rubbed the vertebral column day and night in the hope of dissipating spasms. He did not advise massage in fever except during its remission, but he prescribed it in dropsy and leucophlegmasia.”

John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium at the turn of the century, claims that Asclepiades, “held the practice of this art in such esteem that he abandoned the use of medicines of all sorts, relying exclusively upon massage, which he claimed effects a cure by restoring to the nutritive fluids their natural, free movement. It was this physician who made the discovery that sleep might be induced by gentle stroking.” Emil G. Kleen, a physician and author of Massage and Medical Gymnastics, acclaims Asclepiades as the father of “mechano-therapy” for the invention of several devices designed to produce fluid movement through swinging, vibration or violent motion.

The Roman encylopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus (25 B.C.E.–57 C.E.), writing about Asclepiades, said, “Asclepiades speaks of friction as if he were the inventor of it. According to him there are only three therapeutic agents: first is friction, to which he devotes most space, then water and gestation [meaning to bear or carry, not pregnancy]. No doubt we should not take away from the young the glory of their discoveries, but that is no reason for not leaving to the older what they have established in their writings. Assuredly, no one has presented more precisely and clearly than Asclepiades how and at which parts of the body friction[s] are to be applied. However, in this respect he has added nothing to what Hippocrates expressed.”

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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press.

Aulus Cornelius Celsus (25 B.C.E.–57 C.E.) is credited with scribing the first organized medical history, tracing the development of healing practices from the simple remedies of “barbarous” nations to Hippocrates and Alexandrian medicine. He was a faithful follower of Hippocrates, and was known less for his medical practice than for the advice he recorded as a medical encyclopedist. He wrote about many subjects, especially agriculture and medicine, but only his De medicina, libri octo (”book about medicine”) has survived. He “divided therapy into three forms: dietetic, pharmaceutics and surgical, wrote Douglas Guthrie, M.D., in A History of Medicine (J.B. Lippincott Co., 1946). Massage was considered a part of the last form. Surgery composes quite a bit of the text, osteology is covered, and detailed descriptions of amputation are given. Celsus also wrote about therapeutics; his advice in cases of phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis or atropic diseases) includes “light massage, and warm baths.” He also recommended a long trip to Egypt, which would have been by sea, advice often given well into the 19th century and called “climatotherapy.” His therapeutic remedy for headaches, to which he devoted quite a bit of attention, includes massage in addition to an exacting diet, bleeding and mustard plasters. His other recommendations incorporating massage included remedies for weight and stomach problems. Celsus provides the following remark, quoted by Herman L. Kamenetz in Manipulation, Traction and mustard plasters, which expresses the thoughts of Hippocrates regarding massage: “Vigorous friction’s [sic] harden the fiber, light friction’s loosen it. When pursued a long time, weight is lost; applied with moderation they increase weight.” Then Celsus adds the following thoughts of his own, clearly based on Hippocratic anatripsis, and provides many of the details not found in the general aphorisms of Hippocrates:
“Consequently, friction’s are indicated to strengthen relaxed organs, to relax those which are too tense, to dissipate detrimental plethora or to add weight to lean subjects without strength. If we try to determine how these different results are produced (which is beyond the physician’s realm) we see that they all consist in the removal of the noxious principle. Indeed, tightening occurs with elimination of the cause of relaxation. Relaxation of the parts results after what made them hard is removed. Gain of weight does not result directly from friction’s but with the help of friction of the skin, which becomes more supple, becomes more permeable to nutritious substances. The difference among these results depends upon the procedure used. Both inunction [rubbing in of ointment] and light friction may be used in acute disease of recent onset provided they be applied during the remission and with an empty stomach. However, prolonged friction’s are contraindicated in acute diseases, particularly during their anabasis [advance], except as a soporific for a madman. By contrast they are useful in chronic diseases during remission … Friction’s are as favorable when the disease is beginning to decline as they are detrimental when fever is increasing. Thus, as far as is possible we should, before using them, wait for the fever to subside or at least for a moment of remission. Friction’s are applied either to the whole body, as when we wish to invigorate a debilitated person, or only to a part, in order to remedy the weakness of a limb or some other local condition. Friction’s may alleviate inveterate headaches, provided that the treatment is not applied at the acme [height of development]. Friction’s also give strength to the palsied limb. Most often, however, we should apply friction’s at a distance from the painful regions; thus, when we wish to draw matter from the upper or middle parts of the body we rub the lower limbs.”

“It is difficult to determine the exact number of friction’s to apply to a person since this will depend upon the strength of the individual. A weakened subject might not stand more than fifty, while a more vigorous one might take two hundred … Thus, we must be more careful in applying them to women than to men and to children and older people more than to young adults.”

“Finally, if we rub certain limbs, we proceed vigorously for a long time, for, acting on one of its parts, we do not fear to weaken the body soon, and the noxious matter should be resolved as much as possible, be it to remove it from the limb we treat or to divert if from another area. However, if a weak constitution necessitates friction’s of the entire body, we rub for a shorter time and less vigorously with the thought of softening the skin so that it can draw new material from the nutrients taken more easily. I have already noted as untoward signs the chilling of the surface while heat and thirst are experienced internally. The only thing to do in such a case is to rub the patient, and after having succeeded in producing warmth exteriorly, we can then apply other therapeutic agents.”

Galen
According to medical historians, the greatest physician of antiquity, second only to Hippocrates, was Galen (130–201 C.E.), a Roman. He wrote many volumes of medical and philosophical texts and was an ardent disciple of Hippocrates. He had extensive experience dissecting animals, even the Barbary ape, and was one of the first to correlate anatomy and physiology, which is an ongoing theme in his writings. At age 28 he was physician to the gladiators of Rome, and gained a considerable reputation for his treatment of open wounds and tendon injuries. Later he was physician to a number of Roman emperors. His work on anatomy is his greatest contribution, especially his descriptions of bones and muscles and their attendant tissues, such as ligaments and tendons. One medical historian tells that Galen had the rare opportunity during his career to observe the beating heart in two live patients.

A brief remark in Galen’s book Hygiene reveals his deep feelings toward massage and his disdain for those who would attribute a less-than-professional - in this case, sexual - meaning to its use. This quote is taken from the opening paragraph of the chapter titled “Morning and Evening Massage”: “It still remains, therefore, to discuss morning and evening massage, but not, verily, in the manner in which they say Quintus replied to a gymnast who enquired what was the value of anointment, ‘It makes you take off your tunic.’” Galen responds by writing, “These are all wanton witticisms, not at all befitting a man learned in so august an art.”

Galen elaborated upon Hippocrates’ simple description of anatripsis, including the variety of possible hand directions: “And the rubbings should be of many sorts, with strokes and circuits of the hands, carrying them not only from above down and from below up, but also subvertically, obliquely, transversely and subtransversely … But I direct that the strokes and circuits of the hands should be made of many sorts, in order that so far as possible all the muscle fibers should be rubbed in every direction.” Many other references to massage can be found in R.M. Green’s 1951 publication, A Translation of Galen’s Hygiene, such as the following:

“If, therefore, he is completely rested, it is superfluous to massage or anoint him, unless it were necessary to overcome extreme cold; for then we shall prepare him with massage, just like those who are going to employ cold bathing … But if there should be any sense of fatigue, it has been said before that then it is necessary to anoint and to massage gently. And so also if he were drier than desirable, he should be anointed with sweet oil; for this moistens the dry skin. And he should be massaged little, but with neither firm nor gentle massage. For we want the administration only to favor digestion, not to change the condition of the skin or of the flesh [muscle], nor to eliminate any of the excrements in them. But gentle massage does both, and firm massage the former, for it thickens and toughens the skin, whereas gentle massage purges and makes the body relaxed and soft.”

Galen wrote much more on this subject, describing the details of preparatory massage, the duration of massage at each stage of exercise, and finally “the rubbing of the body - which ought always to follow the exercises.” He concludes with an application of massage techniques and their staged applications to the health and well-being of non-athletes, or those exercises not for competition but for health.

Galen was a student of Hippocratic medicine, and his writings, as they relate to massage, can be considered as representing five centuries of Greco-Roman anatripsis theory and practice.
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Robert Noah Calvert is the founder and CEO of Massage Magazine. The material for this column comes from the World of Massage Museum’s collection and Calvert’s book, The History of Massage, published in February 2002 by Healing Arts Press.