Different Massage Strokes and why they are used

When you are getting a massage, you may notice that your massage therapist uses a wide variety of different ways they manipulate your muscles. Unless you are receiving a massage in one specific style or modality, you usually will experience the therapist's hands doing different things at different times. So why do they use multiple types of massage strokes? Each massage stroke used has a different purpose and may be more suited to different muscle groups. Let's look at a few of the more commonly used massage strokes and what they do.

Effleurage -

These are the long, gliding stokes most often seen in Swedish Massage. They usually move in a straight line from one end of a part of the body to the other. The stroke can be done with any level of pressure from light to deep, and is often the first stroke done, used to apply oil or lotion to the body part being worked on. Effleurage is used to "warm up" the muscles being worked on, but also helps increase circulation and draining inflammation, as well as moving lymph and other stuff through your system to get to where it needs to go. It is also used after a more heavy or intense type of stroke to encourage any byproducts of the deeper muscle work to leave the body and get filtered away so it doesn't cause pain or inflammation. It is one of the most common massage strokes in a standard massage, and can be both beneficial and relaxing.

Petrissage -

Also known as "kneading strokes", this is more manipulation of a specific muscle or muscle group. Usually done with two hands, it is executed pretty much as the name implies - similar to kneading bread, it twists and squeezes the muscle fibers in multiple directions at once to help break up tightness, soften stiff areas, and realign tangled muscle fibers. This is often used on larger muscle groups such as the shoulders, legs, and back. It can be deeper and a little more intense depending on the tightness of the muscle being worked on.

Cross-Fiber Friction -

This is a detailed stroke done perpendicular to the direction muscle fibers run. For example, if a muscle runs up and down, this stroke moves side-to-side across it. The purpose of this stroke is similar to kneading, but much more precise. It breaks up very tight areas where the muscle fibers may be very stiff and tangles. By moving opposite to the direction the muscle usually moves, it helps to untangle the fibers and loosen up anything that my have gotten tangled up with them, therefore softening the tight area and allowing the trapped lymph, toxins, blood, etc to get where it needs to go.

Trigger point or acupressure work -

These terms are not the same, and both actually need their own individual articles to explain them, but the feeling of these strokes may be felt during a massage, so therefore need some sort of explanation. Trigger Points are actually a little controversial in the massage world because many experts can't exactly agree on what they are. Whatever they are, some therapists will call it a trigger point if they find one specific tight spot that can have other issues stemming directly from it. Pressure is applied directly to the center of this painful point in an attempt to get it to release, break up, or relax. Additional strokes may then immediately be used following the pressure to help continue breaking up the spot and flushing away anything that will cause more pain. Acupressure is often lumped into this direct pressure on a specific spot, but it has a totally different reason and method. Acupressure is based more on Chinese Medicine techniques such as Tui Na and focus on the body's meridians where pressure applied to specific points can cause different things to happen within the body. It isn't necessarily pressure on a sore spot, although the spot of focus may be sore while having the pressure applied. They are very different, and this explanation is way too simple, but bottom line, sometimes massage strokes can include direct pressure on specific painful spots to break them up.

These are in no way the only strokes used in a massage therapy session. There are far more and way more than can be described in one article. Each stroke has its own purpose but they also work together, complementing each other. Many therapists integrate multiple strokes like these during a massage to fully take advantage of the benefits of each technique, and help you to achieve optimal results from your massage.