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Remedial massage
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The term remedial massage services is applied to a range of therapies and methods of treatment that offer relief for chronic on-going conditions. Some remedial services seek to ease discomfort and treat specific symptoms while others aim to provide a long lasting remedy.
Remedial services include osteopathy, a process of muscle and tissue massage and joint manipulation that aims to ease pain and increase mobility. This form of treatment was first developed by a family doctor, Dr Andrew Taylor, who practiced medicine in the mid west of America in the 1870s.
Osteopathy was introduced into the United Kingdom at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Remedial massage services also embraces chiropody - specialist foot care - and physiotherapy, a medical discipline that is concerned with the way the body moves. It has a wide ranging application in the modern world, improving the quality of life of those who have suffered a serious injury, allowing elderly people to retain their independence for as long as possible and assessing how people perform everyday tasks in the home, workplace and in the sporting arena to minimize the risk of injury.
Chiropractic treatment also comes under this heading. This is a therapy that uses manipulation and massage to treat a range of joint and muscle complaints - most involving pain to the neck and back. The word comes originally from the Greek and means 'to perform with the hands' and is still relevant today as a chiropractor's hands are his or her most important tools. Although as a form of treatment it originated in the United Sates in the late 19th century, paintings from ancient Egypt and Greece suggest that its roots may be much earlier.
