Body Massage Therapy Techniques

Annet King, Dermatologist at the International Dermal Institute:

Hi I'm Annet King from the International Dermal Institute and what we're going to do here today is to show you some really easy to do body massage movements that you can do at home on your loved one, on a friend, definitely not on yourself. So let's get started with some massage movements.

So we're going actually start out by brushing the skin. Body brushing is a great technique to start the blood circulation on the body and also to help to detoxify the skin. So if you ever have those little pimples on the skin, actual name for those is Keratosis Pilaris, they're like little tiny pimples actually normally caused by salt in the diet and perspiration on the skin. This really helps to get rid of them. The brush is a nice way to prepare the skin and prepare the body for a massage. I'm actually splitting the spine if you like and brushing on one side out down the actual arms up on the back of the arms and then on the other side. I'm brushing out, and I'm warming the skin before we go in with some massage movements.

Next you want to apply a great massage oil. And try to use one that's got a natural base like hazelnut, or avocado or almond oil. You really don't want to use mineral oil or baby oil for a massage. It's really not very healthy for the skin. Look for one with essential oils that are calming and soothing like lavender, chamomile and rosemary. This one also has a ylang-ylang essential oil in it. It's a really feel good factor because of all those wonderful soothing essential oils. These are pure plant oils. They're not artificial fragrances. You don't want to use an artificial-fragranced massage oil because they don't have any benefits on the body. So look for something like an aromatherapy pure oil that's blended into a chamomile.

So I'm just applying the oil over the area and the next thing I'm going to do is our first movement.

So working with my fingertips up the spine, I'm using my whole palms of my hands and I'm linking my thumbs cause that helps to control my movement. And this movement in massage therapy is called Effleurage and it helps to warm the area and prepare the body.

So coming up, index fingers on either side of the spine, coming over the trapezius, around the shoulders, and down the sides of the back. And up again. And this is a great way to start the relaxation process for the one you love. Up and over the trapezius, and around the back. And you can do this as many times as you like. But really try and use an even pressure throughout the whole of your hands. Don't put all the pressure on your fingertips. And come up this major muscle which is the rectus finus muscle.

Next we want to come into the shoulder area and this is where a lot of us hold a lot of tension on the body. So we're going to do like a small movement just on that upper shoulder area and come in with a little more pressure into our fingers and here around the scapular bone. So I'm using a bit more pressure and coming around that area. So bringing more blood into that area, draining away more toxins and helping to bring relief to this area. Cause this is where we hold all that stress and tension, particularly where we work at desks and bend over our desks for most of the day. There's a lot of repetitive stress in this area. So I'm coming over and building in that pressure again you can repeat as many times as you want.

Now I'm going to come in and do what we call a wringing movement. So I'm going to actually pick up the muscle with my hands and squeeze it and alternate that squeezing with my hands. And this feels fantastic. Wringing like wringing someone's neck but it feels really really good to work on this muscle, because there's so much tightening here. There's a lot of lactic acid, a lot of crystals formed within the muscles so by doing this. I'm really bringing a lot of relief to that area working one side of the trapezius, and instead of taking my hands off, cause u should try to keep your hands on, I'm moving now to the other side and wringing this area. So we've done the Effleurage -- that stroking movement of the whole back -- we've then worked on just the upper back, the shoulders, and now we're wringing the area, picking up that trapezius muscle.

So what I'm actually doing with this wringing type movement. Let me show you a close up. My hands are in front of that shoulder, that trapeze muscle and my thumb is behind and I'm doing a circle, but I'm actually picking up and sort of seizing the muscle. So one hand and then the other and I'm alternating that wringing movement. You don't want it to be light like this that's actually more irritating than it is soothing. You want to be firm and pick up that muscle wringing it, bringing blood to the area to break down the lactic acid. So you're going to keep doing this movement for a few minutes and you can work the whole back area and always a light touch over the spine, around the scapular and then back up to the area.

Next, we're going to do something called thumb friction. And what this simply is you're just stroking here with the fingertips on this side of the trapezius. But you're doing of all you're deep movements with your thumbs. The thumb rotations or thumb frictions and this is where you're going to feel those lumps and bumps and all of those tension knots up here in the main area. And this is where you're going to find those knots and help to break it down. Basically those knots are bundles of muscle fibers and lactic acid. So by massaging the area and massaging on the actual knots you're helping to bring them more blood flow to the area to drain that lactic acid away. Not too hard. Use your pressure as you build into the circle and lightly coming back. Soothing over that whole area and using your thumbs as tools to break down those knots in that neck and shoulder region. Not pressing directly on the spine, either side of the spine with the thumbs and coming again into the trapeze area. Now whenever you've done deeper work on this area you're going to come back and soothe it. So I'm going to repeat that upper Effleurage movement now to soothe the area and drain away that lactic acid and toxins.

So, four very very easy movements for you to be able to do at home. Let's put it all together now to show you the complete routing.

So starting lower on the back using both hands coming up the spine, equal pressure throughout the hands, over the shoulders, around the front of the shoulders, down the sides of the back, up again, thumbs can be linked, coming back. And we worked on that trapeze muscle and we squeezed it and we just then worked on the upper shoulder area. We're then going to wring the back and wring the shoulders by picking up and squeezing the muscles. Never taking your hands off the back, keeping it very fluid and with great movement, keeping our pressure even and then coming in for our thumb frictions.

And then, again, soothing the upper back area with that Effleurage movement again. And then finally, before you leave the body you're just going to finish with those long stroking movements getting lighter and lighter as you finish off. And then as your final movement, just gently stroke down with your palms down the erectus lining, that's the getting lighter and lighter with your touch and then gently lifting off your fingers. And there you have some easy massage techniques.