Massage offers numerous benefits, including relieving muscle soreness, delaying aging, and enhancing physical fitness. However, to fully reap these benefits, several precautions must be observed.
Benefits of Massage:
Massage employs various techniques applied to specific areas of the body's surface to eliminate fatigue, regulate bodily functions, strengthen physical constitution, overcome certain dysfunctions, and accelerate blood circulation.
Massage promotes relaxation, easing muscles strained by poor posture and allowing the body to naturally realign into a pain-free position. As muscles relax during massage, joints gain greater freedom and pressure points release. This enables the body to adopt a healthy, natural posture, preventing movement patterns and postures that cause pain over time.By working on muscles, connective tissues, tendons, ligaments, and joints, regular massage can improve your flexibility and range of motion, making your joints move more smoothly and reducing their susceptibility to injury. When is the best time for massage? Morning hand rubbing awakens the mind After waking up in the morning, as physical activity increases, the heart rate accelerates. Therefore, morning care should focus on nourishing the heart and lungs.Techniques like rubbing palms together or massaging fingers stimulate the Laogong acupoint in the palms, invigorating the heart and enhancing respiratory function for health benefits. To rub palms, press them together and rub back and forth, covering as much of the palms as possible. Additionally, massaging fingers together in the morning can also refresh the mind.
Midday Back Sunbathing to Nourish Yang Energy
The period from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM offers abundant sunlight. Regularly exposing your back to the sun helps replenish the body's yang energy. When sunbathing, remove your hat to allow sunlight to enter through the Baihui acupoint on the crown of your head.
Evening Foot Soaks Nourish the Liver
After a day of activity, the body feels fatigued by evening, with the liver and kidneys particularly needing rest and nourishment. The best way to nurture them is through a foot soak.The warmth from the water penetrates the body through the soles of the feet, nourishing the kidney and liver meridians. The Yongquan point on the soles, the starting point of the kidney meridian, benefits greatly from the stimulation of warm water at night. This helps eliminate daily fatigue and replenish kidney energy. After soaking, before bed, use the palms of both hands to massage and knead each foot alternately, repeating the process about ten times per foot.
The most effective time for massage is actually during bathing. The heat of the water opens every pore in the skin, accelerating blood circulation. Massaging at this time yields twice the result with half the effort! While bathing, massage your abdomen and limbs to unblock meridians throughout the body, promoting smooth flow of qi and blood for natural health!
How long should a massage last?
1. Health-preserving acupoints can be massaged frequently. Regularly pressing points like Hegu (LI4), Zusanli (ST36), Guanyuan (CV4), and Sanyinjiao (SP6) promotes wellness and longevity.
2. Massaging after bathing or a foot soak boosts internal circulation, making it the optimal time for massage.
3. Pre-sleep massage aids restful sleep; stimulating appropriate points promotes sound slumber.
5. Allocate different durations for different body areas. Focus longer on key areas and shorter on secondary or auxiliary areas.
6. Generally, daily massage isn't necessary (this refers to therapeutic, not preventive, massage). Typically, 2-3 times per week is sufficient. For acute conditions, continue until recovery. For chronic conditions, a course of treatment generally consists of 10-15 sessions, with a break of several days or a week between courses.
Should massage be clockwise or counterclockwise?
When massaging acupoints, is clockwise or counterclockwise better? Don't laugh—this is a serious matter.
Different directions yield different effects. Traditional Chinese massage principles dictate: for excess conditions (shí zhèng), use clockwise massage to drain; for deficiency conditions (xū zhèng), use counterclockwise massage to tonify.
(1) Massage direction should align with muscle fibers: Follow the muscle's growth direction with gentle, rhythmic, and patient strokes. Wrinkles form at right angles to muscle fibers, so hands should move perpendicular to wrinkles—meaning along muscle lines. For horizontal wrinkles, massage vertically; for vertical wrinkles, massage horizontally.
(2) Fingers used for massage: Use the middle and ring fingers to gently trace circles on the skin, applying the lightest possible pressure—so light it feels almost weightless. Maintain a rhythmic motion with your fingers, avoiding excessive friction on the epidermis.
Can misplaced pressure points cause side effects?
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupressure follows the principle of "departing from the point but not the meridian." Acupressure points are not isolated dots but rather zones. As long as you stay within the meridian pathway, slight deviations are acceptable.When locating points for massage, you might find no pain at one exact spot, but pressing slightly forward triggers discomfort. This allows for precise adjustment—the very essence of "not straying from the meridian."
In TCM, the relationship between acupoints and meridians resembles threading beads onto a string—the body's acupoints are interconnected through meridians. What we refer to as massage essentially targets these meridians. Its techniques penetrate deeply, relaxing muscles, relieving fatigue, and regulating bodily functions. It enhances immune capacity, unblocks meridians, balances yin and yang, and promotes longevity.
Who Should Avoid Massage
1. Individuals with unstable physical conditions, such as those severely weakened by chronic illness, those with severe cardiovascular disease, or frail elderly patients;
2. Women during menstruation (avoid the lumbar region) and pregnant women beyond five months gestation;
3. Those with severe hematological disorders, such as purpura, thrombocytopenia, or aplastic anemia;
4. Individuals with infections or severe skin conditions at the massage site, including acute infectious diseases, acute osteomyelitis, tuberculous arthritis, contagious skin diseases, eczema, burns/scalds, skin ulcers, tumors, or various sores;
5. Individuals with high fever should not receive massage;
6. Patients with dislocations or strains;
7. Patients with acute peritonitis, acute suppurative peritonitis, or acute appendicitis.
The above outlines common considerations encountered during massage. While massage offers numerous benefits, proper technique must be observed.