Remedial massage is the treatment of soft tissues aimed at balancing the body's systems. This systemic balance is part of the modern biomedical understanding of health and disease. Remedial massage helps to promote healthy tissues, reduce pain and optimise postural mobility to improve physical and emotional stability.

A remedial massage treatment can include a variety of techniques to target different systems of the body that include but are not limited to the nervous system, lymphatic system,  muscular system and skeletal system. The techniques can be applied using various levels of contact pressure ranging from very light to very firm. Techniques using firm pressure do not necessarily achieve greater or faster results than light techniques. Some techniques can be applied through clothing or draping, however, some techniques require direct contact on the skin to be effective. Balms, oils or powder maybe used to reduce friction during direct skin contact techniques. To achieve positive treatment outcomes removal of clothing is not always required. The practitioner will discuss option with a patient to ensure appropriate informed consent is obtained prior to the application of any technique. 
 
Always inform your practitioner if you are feeling uncomfortable about any aspects of the consult. Attempt to give your practitioner accurate feedback of reactions to a technique or the overall treatment session, both during and post the treatment session. Report any reactions in the following hours or days, if you have any questions contact the practitioner.

Peer-reviewed medical research has shown that the benefits of massage include pain relief, a reduced anxiety and depression, temporarily reduced blood pressure and heart rate. Hypotheses on how massage can achieve results include blocking nociception (gate control theory), activating the parasympathetic nervous system (which may stimulate the release of endorphins and serotonin), preventing fibrosis or scar tissue and increasing lymphatic flow.

Research of massage techniques can be hindered from using the gold standard of scientific research, which includes placebo-controlled and double blind clinical trials. Developing a “sham” manual therapy for massage is difficult since light touch can not be assumed to be completely devoid of therapeutic effects it is also difficult to blind the practitioner delivering the treatment. However, research on the effects of massage can employ randomised controlled trials and many such studies are published in peer reviewed medical journals.

Andrade,C.(2014). Outcome-Based Massage (3rd ed.). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

Jackson M, Moore MD, editors. Balancing the self: Medicine, politics and the regulation of health in the twentieth century [Internet]. Manchester (UK): Manchester University Press; 2020. Chapter 1. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555715/