In a World of Massages, Healing Hands Can Rub You the Right Way : Therapy: From Swedish to shiatsu, the varied techniques are touted as strokes of good health.

To cure a headache in Bali, you get a head massage instead of an aspirin. In the south of India, you might take advantage of health-enhancing Ayurvedic massage techniques, one of the oldest systems of medicine known to mankind.

In Thailand, it may be the healing discipline of massage associated with Theravada Buddhism, with treatments offered to the public at temples and monasteries. Or in Japan, you might use shiatsu (acupressure) to alleviate symptoms of ills ranging from toothaches to swollen ankles.

Throughout Europe--especially in Scandinavia and Holland--massage is considered an essential component of physical and mental health care, with a wide range of treatments designed to do everything from increasing blood circulation to reducing scar tissue. In most European countries, massage treatments are paid for by medical insurance.

However, application of healing hands as a health care measure has been slow to catch on in the United States.

According to Russ Beasley, administrator of P.H. Ling Massage Clinic at New York’s Swedish Institute of Massage, one reason massage has lacked credibility in the United States as legitimate medical treatment is that the discipline has been associated in the past with New Age hocus-pocus or with illicit sexuality.

“Massage has had a bad image for years because the media, TV shows and movies often presented it in a somewhat dubious context, in dingy massage parlors and with strong undercurrents of sexual innuendo,” Beasley said. “Massage therapists have been working hard to overcome that negative image and to key the public into the proven healing benefits of massage therapies.”

Beasley said massage has had a credibility boost in the United States in the past decade because more physicians recognize that it can enhance other therapies, and they are prescribing massage for their patients.

Beasley credits Dr. Bernie S. Seigel, author of “Love, Medicine and Miracles,” with popularizing the connection between positive mind-set and physical well-being. Seigel and other doctors, especially those in the holistic health movement, see massage as a method to reduce stresses inherent in chronic or catastrophic illnesses, except where massage may aggravate a condition.

“Technically speaking, massage releases endorphins in the brain, producing a calm, trance-like, meditative state that can be beneficial to patients undergoing drug or chemotherapies,” Beasley said.

The Ling Clinic accepts only patients with physician referrals, Beasley said. The clinic’s massage therapists, for the most part, do Swedish massage, a technique developed by Peter Hendrick Ling (1776-1839) in the early-1800s.

As a young man, Ling developed severe arthritis. When he could find no effective treatment in Europe, Ling traveled to China, where his arthritis was treated and relieved by Taoist priests using massage techniques.

Ling returned to Sweden and, with his knowledge of physiology and massage, formulated a system of Swedish gymnastics. In 1814, he established the Royal Institute of Gymnastics in Stockholm, where a combination of exercise and massage were used to promote good health and for military training.

Although massage is mentioned in ancient texts--including those found in Egyptian tombs and in the writings of Hippocrates--Ling is credited with having introduced massage to the West. Successors refined and expanded Ling’s techniques and theories into the Swedish massage system in use today.

Swedish massage was used in the United States during the late 19th Century and during World Wars I and II to treat the injured and hospitalized. However, medical application of massage declined during the 1950s, partly because laws passed in 1955 pushed many massage therapists out of the realm of established medical practice by prohibiting anyone without a nursing degree or four years of college from working in a hospital.

Today, Swedish massage, taught at the highly respected Swedish Institute of Massage and other accredited schools, is among the massage techniques most widely practiced around the world.

Swedish massage consists of five basic strokes, or types of muscle manipulation, that soothe and stimulate muscles, tissues and nerves and move blood toward the heart. The strokes also help lymphatic fluids flow toward drainage ducts in the chest and neck, thereby cleansing the body.

There are essential differences between Swedish massage (or other Western techniques, including sports massage) and Oriental massage systems: Western massage philosophy views the body in terms of structural components such as muscles, bones, tissues and organs, and techniques are based on physical anatomy.

Oriental systems stem from the belief that a life-giving energy (called ki in Japanese philosophy or prana in yoga) circulating through the body must be kept strong and free-flowing to maintain health. Treatments are based on balancing invisible pulses found along various energy paths or meridians throughout the body.

Another category of massage therapy is based on a theory of electrochemical and neuromuscular reflexes that can be stimulated and balanced. These systems include Rolfing, polarity and osteopathy.

According to Beasley, massage therapists usually base their practice on one massage system but incorporate elements of other systems to make treatments more effective. Many travel abroad to study techniques practiced in foreign lands.

“The Swedish Institute encourages an amalgamation or synthesis of various massage styles. There is no one style that works for all people, so we hope that massage therapists can provide a large palette of techniques that the public can choose from,” Beasley said.

Although licensing criteria vary from state to state, certification and affiliation with professional associations are good indications of a therapist’s legitimacy. Other signs of professionalism are a well-conducted “intake” interview and proper draping of a sheet or robe to assure your privacy.

Beyond that, you should feel comfortable with the therapist and confident about communicating your physical and emotional states.