Swedish Massage | Grand Cayman Mobile Spa

What is Swedish massage?

Swedish massage is one of the most popular forms of massage therapy. It can help you relax, give you more energy, and may help after an injury.

Swedish massage involves long, kneading strokes combined with rhythmic tapping strokes and movement of the joints.

This type of massage targets the uppermost layer of muscles and aims to relieve muscle tension.

What does a Swedish massage involve?

Before the massage begins, we will talk to you about your health and lifestyle. We will then ask you to lie on a massage table and will cover you with towels to protect your privacy and to keep you warm. We will then oils to help massage your skin smoothly.

What are the Five Techniques of Swedish Massage? 

Swedish Massage is a massage therapy modality that utilizes five primary massage techniques for healing. The five techniques are:

1. Effleurage
2. Petrissage
3. Friction
4. Vibration 
5. Tapotement 

Effleurage

Swedish Massage begins with a set of stroking movements known as effleurage. Effleurage is a French word that means to lightly touch or to skim. This technique consists of a series of long, gliding or circular massage strokes that is applied using different degrees of pressure.

Effleurage is applied to a patient’s body to loosen muscular knots and to release tension. It is performed at the beginning of a massage therapy session to warm-up the muscles and at the end of it, to soothe them out.

The amount of pressure that is applied with each stroke varies upon the needs of the patient. Generally speaking, there are 3 general approaches to applying effleurage:

• Feather or Nerve Stroking: This is the lightest of the effleurage approaches. It consist of applying very light fingertip pressure across the surface of the body. It is primarily used for generating relaxation and does not have much effect on the neuromuscular system. As such, feather stroking is not commonly utilized during a typical massage therapy session, although it is often utilized for head massages.
• Superficial Effleurage: This is the most common approach to utilizing effleurage. It is used at the beginning of a massage to apply oil and to warm up the body’s muscles and tissues. The strokes are performed by using an open-palm across a wide area of the body with varying degrees of pressure to promote blood circulation.
• Deeper Effleurage: This approach is similar to superficial effleurage, but utilizes more pressure on particular areas of the body, especially on areas that are tense and heavily knotted.

Petrissage

After the muscles have been warmed up with the effleurage strokes, the next technique that follows is petrissage. Petrissage comes from the French word pétrir, which means “to knead.” The technique generally applied by manually compressing soft tissues of an area through rhythmic kneading, squeezing, and/or rolling.

These movements are particularly useful for stretching and loosening tense muscles, which also aids in improving blood circulation and helps to detoxify the body.

While there are many approaches to applying petrissage, the four most common are:

• Kneading: Kneading is the most common of the petrissage approaches and the motions are often compared to those a barker makes when kneading dough.
  It is applied by lifting the soft tissues of an area, then squeezing and rolling it back in a slow and circularly rhythmic fashion, using both palms. The amount of pressure that is applies varies, but kneading is particularly useful for deep muscular penetration.
• Wringing: Wringing is similar to kneading, expect that is begins by compressing the soft tissue area against its underlying structure (bones, etc.) before being lifted, squeezed, and rolled back.
• Rolling: Rolling is applied by lifting and squeezing the soft tissues in a side-ways pattern. This petrissage approach is applied to either the muscle fibers (Muscle Rolling) or the epidermis (Skin Rolling).
• Lifting (Pick up and Squeeze): Lifting is similar to kneading, but rather than applying the compression movements with both palms, it is performed with the thumb, index, and middle fingers.

Because petrissage can be applied in many different ways and with varying degrees of pressure, it offers many therapeutic benefits to patients with tense or injured muscles. As such, petrissage usually takes up the majority of the time in a Swedish Massage Therapy session.

Friction

In Swedish Massage, Friction refers to a firm and focused rubbing technique that is applied to a specific area, usually using just the fingers or thumbs. Compression is often applied in a circular rhythm (Circular Friction) or in perpendicular rhythm (Transverse Friction).

The combination of precision and pressure makes Friction ideal for softening and realigning tense muscle fibers and for treating particular joints, such the elbow.

Vibration (Shaking)

As the name suggest, the vibration technique is applied by rhythmically shaking an area of the body to loosen and relax the body. The intensity and pressure of the technique depend on the area of the body that is being treating, but it can performed in many ways, such as using both palms across a large area, such as the back or the fingers on small and sensitive area, such as the face. It is especially useful for soothing nerves and treating areas with lots of scar tissue.

Tapotement

Tapotement is a French word that means to tap or to drum. This technique consist of applying rhythmic tapping across patient’s body. The tapping sensations are used to stimulate the flow of blood and endorphins in body. As such, tapotement is particularly useful for relaxing tight muscles and for draining lymphatic build up.

The amount of pressure or force used in tapotement varies on the needs of the patient, but there are five common approaches to applying tapotement:

• Beating or Hammering: Tapping using a closed fist. This approach is particularly useful for applying general force over a large area, such as the back.
• Hacking: Tapping using the edge of the hands. Hacking is particularly useful for applying firm force to a small area. This is the most common tapotement approach and is often described as “karate chopping” by laypeople.
• Slapping: Gentle slapping using the palms of the hands. Slapping is particularly useful for muscular stimulation.
• Tapping: Rapid tapping using the fingertips. This is the lightest approach in terms of force and is used on patients with particular sensitivities.
• Cupping: Tapping using a cupped hand. This approach is used to apply deep force across a larger area.

What are health benefits of Swedish massage?

• Relaxation.  Swedish Massage both calms the nervous system and relaxes muscular tension.
• Reduces Stress.  Many of us live demanding lives, both overscheduled and over-worked.  Stress can manifest in the body with increased muscle tension and sometimes pain.  Stress can manifest in the mind with increased worry or anxiety. Swedish Massage helps to clear the body and mind of unwanted responses to stress.
• Increase Flexibility.  Swedish Massage will elongate the muscles, open the joints and decrease swelling, all of which will ease movement and increase flexibility.
• Improve Posture.  While postural imbalances have many sources, including overworked muscles due to repetitive strain, overcompensating muscles to ease stress on overworked muscles, prolonged sitting, or injury, Swedish Massage helps to ease the muscular holding that underlies postural imbalance.
• Improve Blood Circulation. Massage dilates the blood vessels and widens the membrane pores in the body, improving your body’s ability to deliver fresh blood to muscles and organs.
• Endorphin Release to Improve Mood.  Research shows increased serotonin and dopamine in massage recipients, improving their mood and feeling of emotional well-being.
• Flush out Metabolic Byproducts.  As massage stimulates circulation, it flushes out lactic acid and uric acid that build up in muscles due to overuse.
• Increase Range of Motion. Swedish Massage, incorporating stretching and range of motion techniques, will open and lubricate the joints for increased range and more fluid motion.
• Support Healthy Immunity. Because Swedish Massage also encourages the flow of lymphatic fluid, it increases lymphocytes, immune cells that are produced in the lymph nodes.
• Increase Nutrient Supply to Muscles.  By increasing circulation, Swedish Massage increases the blood supply and nutrients to the muscles.
• Increases Energy.  Increased circulation also means more oxygen delivered through the body, resulting in a boost in energy.
• Improve Sleep.  Studies show that getting a massage increases serotonin levels in the body, so you can fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
• Relieve Headaches.  Many headaches or migraines are a result of stress and/or poor circulation. Swedish Massage relieves the stress associated with tension headaches and improves circulation.

The significant benefits of Swedish Massage make it clear that a regular massage regimen is more than a luxury, but indeed an important ingredient in the cultivation of physical and emotional well-being.  Maybe you just want a “relaxation” massage.  But know, that in your relaxation, you are also taking care of both your body and mind in fundamental yet important ways.

To reserve your mobile Swedish Massage please contact us here https://perfectlypamperedcayman.com/contact-us-cayman-mobile-massage/

Swedish Massage Grand Cayman Mobile Spa | +1 345 925 6267