Tuina is the most tried and tested massage therapy in the world. It is an Ancient healing art that employs the use of the hands to press on key points of the body. When these are points are stimulated, they release tension, increase circulation, and improve the body’s own natural healing process.
Tuina is translated as Tui ‘Push’ and Na ‘Grasp’. Over the last two centuries, Tuina has taken over the role of Physiotherapy, Osteopathy, and Chiropractic in China. As of 2010 Tuina is now recognized in China as a distinct medical system.
A Tuina practitioner can stimulate many points during a single treatment, dredge many channels/meridians compared to acupuncture, as 400 needles may be too excessive for the patient to handle at any one time. Tuina also has the ability to work on the local muscle near the trauma, and break down adhesions and scar tissue. This increases the flow of blood, nutrients, and oxygen (chi) to carry away damaged tissue.
WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT?
Tuina massage can be performed lying or sitting down. You do not always need to remove any clothing – unless your treatment will include herbal liniments, moxa, gua sha or cupping techniques.
Chinese medicine is a holistic system that treats the underlying causes of pain and illness, not just the symptoms, so at the start of our first session, I will take a full medical history, including examining your tongue and reading your pulse.
Treatment will generally follow the same pattern – starting with relatively gentle, superficial techniques start to open the energy meridians and allow your muscles to relax.
This is followed by stronger, rhythmic techniques and point stimulation, or deep subtle energy work. You may feel deeply relaxed and sleepy during this stage. The treatment ends with brisk sweeping techniques to dissipate any stagnant energy that has been stirred-up during the treatment. Passive movements of joints and stretches can be incorporated at this stage.
In addition to the massage, I can also incorporate other Chinese therapeutic techniques including herbs that warm and relax the muscles and cupping techniques, depending on your individual needs.
Cupping may leave superficial red marks or small bruises, but these are painless and quickly fade.
How our tuina massage can help
Tuina massage is a highly effective FUNCTIONAL massage that is quite different from other massage techniques such as Swedish or deep tissue massage. The style of massage is vigorous and involves quite a lot of rubbing, kneading and manipulation to stimulate blood flow, ease muscle tension and clear blockages and stagnation of Qi.
Tuina massage is not for relaxing massage but instead is a powerful therapeutic tool for a number of various acute and chronic conditions.
All musculoskeletal issues (Frozen Shoulder; Lower Back pain, Carpal Tunnel, RSI, Sciatica, etc) can be treated with Tuina massage as well as various internal conditions like digestive, circulatory and respiratory conditions.
Tuina massage is an effective treatment for sports injuries and a perfect for rehabilitation.
Modalities like this are included in some of the packages below.