Tuina or Chinese massage

Massage is one of the oldest therapeutic methods. Possibly the origin of all massages that have arisen in different cultures, Egypt, China, Persia, India and others was the same, the intuitive gesture of self-pain disorders due to internal or external injuries related to physical labor under difficult conditions in which massage at the site relieves pain. Through repetition of these gestures of experience, accumulated knowledge and a certain instinctive gestures, it became a conscious act, which gave rise to the different styles of massage currently known. But if manual techniques had a common origin what differentiates from each other? The massage just like all the medical arts is deeply rooted in the thinking and therefore the vision in the Human Being, in every period of its history, him and his relationship with the world around him.

Tuina or Chinese massage

In the case of Tuina or Chinese massage, originally called Anmo, has a bond in common with oriental manual techniques that makes them different from Western therapies; it is a vital energy called Qi (pronounced chi) which is responsible for all processes in the universe and therefore also of the balance (health) of the person. This Qi, which circulates throughout the body via channels called "meridians", is provided through respiration, food and preconceived by our parents before birth. When human being after all is seen as a microcosm but a reflection of the macrocosm, the universe, and therefore each of its parts are connected between them, influencing at the same time allowing them to rebalance through global action.

Features of Tuina

Tuina is the term designating a large number of massage techniques used in the context of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that is spreading widely throughout the world thanks to its innumerable range of possibilities. The name of the Chinese massage, Tuina and Anmo comes from the Chinese and make references to the techniques originally used on it: tui na and which respectively "push" and "grab" and in the case of Anmo is translated by "push" and "rub" respectively.

Currently the number of Tuina manipulations are included within the much more numerous including those of rubbing, pressing, pushing, grabbing, fondling, vibration, kneading, rolling, stretching, hitting, squeezing, manipulation of joints, passive movement, etc. To increase the therapeutic benefit herbal poultices, food or salves can be used too. The Tuina as practice in China and in the West would require training in osteopathy, chiropractic and therapeutic massage.

But its action is based not only on muscles and joints, but also on a deeper level, influencing the flow of vital energy through the body through the application of the manipulations on the meridians and acupuncture points, rebalancing the circulation of Qi in all organs and tissues, obtaining benefits that could be summarized as follows: recovering from fatigue, emotional release, freeing mental focus, removing stagnation of Qi and blood, increasing the production of hormones and strengthening nervous and immune system.
 
The Tuina, as part of TCM can be used as monotherapy or combined with any technique of TCM (acupuncture and moxibustion, pharmacology, dietary or physical exercises like Tai Chi and Qi Gong) and even with western medicine. Its treatment field is wide, including traumatology (muscular problems, joint pains in general, atrophy, problems of physical mobility), internal medicine (stomach pain, constipation or diarrhea, asthma, hypertension …), gynecology (menstrual pain, abnormal regulation), Pediatrics (vomiting, diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, constipation, asthma, sleep problems, bed wetting) and even aesthetics (acne hypertrichosis, wrinkles, chloasma).

The Tuina in the aesthetic treatment

According to TCM, the human body is an organic whole whose activities depend essentially in vital organs because they are the source of production of Qi and blood, circulating through the vascular network in the meridians and expressing the foreign state through the orifices (eyes, nose, mouth …) and the state of our skin. From the viewpoint of TCM, the aesthetic question is closely linked to five organs: heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney, in other words, these five bodies are vital for health and aesthetic beauty, the proof is that virtually all cosmetic treatments are based on optimizing the conditions of these organs, such as facial nutrition and hydration for the treatment of heart and spleen, sculpt and regular body shape by treating spleen and stomach, nourish the hair and brighter and the eyes for treatment of liver and kidney cleansing skin by regulating lung and stomach, anti-aging treatment for the treatment of spleen and kidney, etc.

The manipulative techniques of Tuina, through skin receptors of the points or areas where they operate, sometimes in distal tip of the affected area, and the nerves connected to these may raise regulatory capacity of the cerebral cortex on the whole organ function. Actions that result finally in the aesthetic realm, in skin hydrated and nourished, beautiful figure, in short, more natural beauty reflects the harmonious functioning of the body.
 
Any cosmetic treatment according to the theory of TCM should be based on the principle of acting not only on the local area but is essential organs to treat the result more efficiently.

Figure 1
C = Heart, P= Lung, B = Spleen, H = Liver, R = Kidney

European Foundation of TCM – College of TCM.
www.mtc.es

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