Massage in Hippocrates' time and the differences with other ancient civilisations

The term massage that in Greek is mentioned differently as kneading too, comes from the verb - knead- which means make something soft using hands. In other nations, we meet this word as ANMA in Chinese, as MASS in Arab and as SAMVAHANA in Indian.

In ancient times and specifically in  central and south America, there were holy places where besides worshiping gods, different types of massage took place as part of rituals.

There were special rooms, the temazcani which had hot stones in the centre, by throwing water on them, they created steam that caused sweating to the attendees.

The body was hit with special herbs and eucalyptus leaves in order to cause more relaxation and the different ingredients of the plants to get in the subcutaneous tissue.

Ointments from pine wood were also used which were rubbed on the chest. 

Then, massage followed all over the body mostly by slaves.

The massage mode was from the centre moving outwards and what they aimed at was to remove the bad spirits that had conquered the person. 

Around 450 BC, we had the doctor Hippocrates in Greece where he presented massage in medical application. 

So we see that the first people who applied massage for relaxing muscle particles and patients’  cure, were doctors. 

Later, it was also used in aesthetics because it rejuvenates, gives flexibility and tones the human body.

The difference of Hippocrates’ approach from other nations was that he didn’t see the patient as a vessel with bad spirits that had to be exterminated. He himself tried the patients’ excretions e.g. urine, sweat and tried to give a cure with the materials nature and the mineral kingdom provided him with. Hippocrates’ stigma is deeply etched if one thinks that the doctors all around the world take an oath in his name to receive their degree.