General Time Line
The information in this timeline is from many sources, mainly massage textbooks, massage books and massage school manuals. There are many contradictions in the various sources and the dates can only be taken as approximates in many cases.
3000 BC : Cong-Fu of the Toa-Tse in Chinese was discovered. It is the oldest known book, written about massage. This book was translated to French in thel700s.
2000 BC : The first writings about Massage
1800 BC : Ancient written works of Ayurveda were found. These dealt with the Art of Life and included massage techniques. In India, the focus was on sensual massage aspects.
776 BC, Olympic Games : The athletes who took part in the games are believed to have used massage prior to their events.
500 BC, Herodicus : He prescribed gymnastics to heal. Considered to be the founder of medical Gymnastics.
460-380 BC : Hippocrates who was a student of Herodicus, used ‘Friction’ technique to treat sprains and dislocations (called anatripsis-Greek for friction). He believed that disease resulted from natural causes and the body has the power to heal itself. Hippocrates also wrote code of ethics that became the Hippocratic Oath.
100-44 BC, Romans : Julius Caesar used Massage therapy to relieve his neuralgia and epileptic seizures. He was thought to have used the pinching movements of massage, every day.
130 AD-201 AD, Galen : He was originally from Greece. Galen was a physician for the school of gladiators who were rubbed before fighting. He wrote a book on manual medicine.
25 BC-50 AD : Aulus Cornelius Celsius who was a Roman Physician wrote ‘De Medicina’ (8 textbooks with a lot of information on massage).
228 AD-337 AD : The Roman Emperor Constantine condemned the baths and gymnasiums as he thought that they added to the abuse of sex.
589 AD-617 AD : Sui Dynasty already had knowledge of Massage and used it as therapy.
980 AD-1037 AD : Avicenna, a Persian medic, wrote the Canon of Medicine.
1300-1368 : Guy de Chauliac wrote a book on surgery mentioning bodywork as an adjunct to surgery.
1517-1590 : Ambroise Pare, a French barber-surgeon, raised awareness about the use of massage.
1564-1626 : Lord Francis Bacon observed that massage had benefits like enhancing circulation.
1660-1742 : In Prussia, Friedrich Hoffman, physician to King of Prussia recommended rubbing and gymnastics for the royal court.
1742-1823 : John Grosvenor, an English surgeon practised healing with hands.
1776-1839 : Per Henrik Ling-a fencing master and gymnast studied massage after he cured himself of rheumatism in his arm. He developed a system of Medical Gymnastics.
1813 : Per Henrik Ling formed the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. His students carried on his work after his death.
1837 : Ling’s disciple, M. LeRon brought Movement Cure to Russia, St.Petersburg.
1839-1909 : Johann Mezger of Holland brought medical massage to scientific community. Started using the terms effleurage, petrissage and tapotement.
1856 : Mathias Roth, English physician, taught Charles Fayette Taylor and George Henry Taylor the essentials of massage therapy and they brought massage to the US.
1852-1943 : John Harvey Kellogg, used massage and hydrotherapy. He published a magazine called “Good Health”.
1879 : Douglas Graham—described the lomi- lomi technique and wrote a history of massage. He may have been the first to use massage in USA.
1880 : Mary Putnam Jacobi and Victoria A White, who were medical doctors and professors in USA, researched the benefits of massage and ice packs in the management of anaemia.
1884 : Professor Charcot, a French Physician, who taught Sigmund Freud was of the opinion that French doctors should use massage more often in their treatment.
1884 : There were massage scandals in Europe. Physicians became sceptical of claims made by massage therapist and accused practitioners of stealing patients.
1894 : Society of Trained Masseuses was formed in Britain. It set up study of massage along with prerequisites for education and the criteria for school recognition.
1895 : Sigmund Freud used Massage Therapy to treat hysteria. He also conducted studies in hysteria and postulated that what we did not or will not confront in our lives would be buried in the body in the unconscious mind.
1899 : Sir William Bennet started a massage department at St. George’s Hospital in London.
1900 : Albert Hoffa wrote the book ‘Technike der Massage’
1907 : Edgar Ferdinand Cyriax used Ling’s Swedish Movement Cure and Mechanotherapeutics.
1913 : Dr. William Fitzgerald rediscovered Reflexology and called it Zone Therapy.
1917 : James Mennell of St. Thomas Hospital in London, practised physical treatment by movement, manipulation and massage.
World War I : Swedish massage was used for rehabilitation of injured soldiers.
1929 : Elizabeth Dicke, a German physical therapist, created ‘Bindgewebs massage’ or connectivetissue massage. She used reflex zones in the course of her practice.
1930s : Many hospitals employed trained Physical Therapists for doing massage therapy for the patients.
1930 : Neuromuscular Therapy was created by Stanley Leif.
1932 : Emil Voder, a Danish physiologist created Manual Lymph Drainage.
1934 : Wilhelm Reich, who was an Austrian psychoanalysist and also Freud’s student, used Somato techniques to dissolve muscular armour. He also attempted to cure neurosis by releasing the corresponding muscle tensions by using breath, movement and physical manipulation.
The community was outraged at the thought of using physical contact. He was sent to prison for his conflicts and died there. Bioenergetics, created by Alexander Lowen, emerged from Reich’s work.
1940 : James Cyriax, son of Edgar Ferdinand Cyriax, and British Osteopath, created deep transverse friction.
1943 : Chicago American Association of Masseurs and Masseuses was formed. Later the namewas changed to American Massage Therapy Association.
1949 : Massage Registration Act formulated by AMM.
1944 : Harold Storms formulated the Storms technique for fibrositic nodules.
1950s : Francis Tappan and Gertrude Beard wrote books and articles on massage techniques. 1952 : Janet Travell researched Trigger points.
1956 : Margaret Knott and Dorothy Vass wrote a book called ‘Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation’.
1960s : Albert Baumgartner used Massage in Athletics.
1960s : Esalen became the first centre to explore the potentials of massage therapy on human beings. It brought about notable advancements in the field of massage therapy and allied branches: Ida Rolf (who created Rolfing), did her first trainings there. Deane Juhan worked there and Bernie Gunther trained people to do massage.
1966 : Raymond Nimmo wrote the book “The Receptor Tonus Method”, which came from his work with “noxious generative points”.
1972 : Moshe Feldenkrais, writes “Awareness Through Movement” which follows up his 1949 publication “The Body and Mature Behaviour.” He studies the details of sensory awareness and movement re-education, somewhat based on FM. Alexander’s work.
1981 : Lauren Berry, a physical therapist and mechanical engineer, recorded his methods of manipulating joints, “The Berry Method, Volume I”
1981 : Lawrence H. Jones identifies tenderpoints and develops “Strain-Counterstrain” techniques of treating points.
1983 : Janet Travell writes book with David Simons. It is called “Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Triggerpoint Manual: Volumes I & 2.