Swedish Massage
There were very few advances in massage until 1813, when Pehr Henrik Ling established the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics in Sweden. In the nineteenth century the most common treatments for illness were blood letting and the use of purgatives. Physicians put their faith in science, and new drugs such as Calomel, mercury and arsenic based tonics, were in common usage. Ling formalized a series of gymnastic movements and massage techniques which have become known as Swedish massage. These techniques included ‘effleurage’ or stroking, ‘petrisage’ or pressing and squeezing and ‘tapotement’ or striking. Ling is sometimes credited with being the father of modern massage