Massage therapy means many things to many people. In fact, a recently published scholarly article identifies more than 80 different styles of massage, many of which have been developed in the past 30 years! But to start, let's simply define massage as the manual manipulation of soft body tissues (muscle, connective tissue, tendons, and ligaments) to enhance health and well-being.

This definition excludes some kinds of bodywork, such as craniosacral therapy, Traeger, and Feldenkrais. While they are sometimes called "massage", they don't use manipulation of soft tissue as the main therapy. This definition also excludes therapies that are primarily energy work, such as Healing Touch, Reiki, acupressure, and reflexology.

Massage is often used for specific reasons, such as relief from pain, stress reduction, or enhancement of athletic performance. But whether there is a specific goal or not, massage therapy tends to increase the general health and well-being of the recipient.

As the profession of massage therapy has grown, and more people are investing time and money in feeling better, many new terms are being used to market massage. As a result, it can be hard to understand just what is being offered.To try to reduce the confusion, we have created two tables that explain various terms. The first table lists commercial names that are often associated with relaxation styles of massage; the second lists names associated with clinical styles. (A style of massage uses a set of specific techniques for a specific outcome. In a typical massage session, a therapist often uses more than one style to address different health goals.)

http://takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/therapies/massage/what

- Relaxes muscle spasms and relieves tension
- Improves blood and lymph flow
- Increase joint flexibility
- Relieve migraine pain
- Reduce spasms and cramping
- Ability to digest and eliminate food
- Helps reduce edema swelling of the extremities
- Reduces stress symptoms physically, mentally, and
  physiologically (chemically)
- Alleviate low-back pain and improve range of motion
- Treatment relaxing and enjoyable