Skin Care Secrets Revealed: Swedish Massage

By Kolbjorn Borseth

For information on making Massage Oils click here.

Per-Henrik Ling (1776-1839), a Swedish medical-gymnastic practitioner, was born in the south of Sweden in 1776 and is often credited with developing the techniques of Swedish Massage, or Classical Massage, as it is also known. In the late 1790s he suffered from rheumatism but discovered that the daily disciplines of fencing and gymnastics completely restored his bodily health. He wanted others to benefit from what he had learnt and so developed a system of medical gymnastics, which became known as the Swedish Movement System. His ambition was to do everything he could to make the Swedish population strong and healthy in both body and spirit. After many failed attempts, he finally received co-operation from the Swedish government in 1813 and the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute was opened for the training of gymnastic instructors. There have been developments on Ling’s work and while he used movement to cure ill health, the five classic techniques of Swedish Massage are said to be credited to a Dutch physician, Dr. Johan George Mezger, even though Ling is more commonly called the “father of Swedish Massage”. Apparently, when researching Per-Henrik Ling's techniques in later years, researchers noticed some similarities between descriptions of Ling's techniques and the terms already in use as defined by Mezger. These terms were applied to Ling's methods and, because he practised in the decades before Mezger, he received credit for developing and naming these techniques.

Whatever the case, to quote from the Axelson’s Gymnastiskas Institut website, “Ling's idea had a large influence on healthcare during the second half of the 19th century. A visitor from America wrote in 1901: "A true Swede believes that exercise cures all. If you visit a Swedish doctor in all probability he will prescribe an exercise program and send you to a massage facility rather than a visit to the pharmacy".

However they were evolved, the five classic techniques of Swedish Massage are used successfully by many therapists to the benefit of countless clients every day, to this day. They are:

• Effleurage: Long, gliding strokes.
• Petrissage: Lifting and kneading the muscles.
• Friction: Firm, deep, circular rubbing movements.
• Tapotement: Brisk tapping or percussive movements.
• Vibration: Rapidly shaking or vibrating specific muscles.

On a personal note from Kolbjorn

The largest massage school in Sweden is Axelsons Institute in Stockholm, where I was trained as a Swedish Massage therapist. They offer the Nordic region’s most comprehensive therapeutic Body Massage Training and after I had trained there I later developed Swedish Massage Oils and Lotions for the Institute. Every student at Axelsons still receives a bottle of my Swedish Massage Lotion when they start their Swedish Massage studies. www.axelsons.com

Another important school for Swedish massage is Göteborgs Gymnastiska Institut (GG I) in Gothenburg in Sweden. They also follow in the footsteps of Ling and have been established since 1912 (for almost 100 years!). www.ggi.se

The 10 Laws for Massage Oils...

1. I believe that prescribing massage oils for each client is the way forward. You can do this in many ways, at the very minimum I would suggest that, as a minimum, you make up base massage oil blend for each skin type, and then add different essential oils and active ingredients to suit the client’s personal preferences and/or skin conditions. Mixing the different vegetable oils can create a blend of oils that is better suited to the particular purpose for which it is intended than the simple use of one or other oil. Get to know the different oils and their characteristics. This prescription approach would definitely yield better treatment results as well as customer satisfaction than simply using a standard vegetable oil blend for all of your clients.
2. Choose vegetable oils that offer excellent lubrication, such as sweet almond apricot kernel, high-oleic-content sunflower or jojoba oils.
3. To add body to, or to thicken, a massage oil, you can use coconut butter, shea butter and shea butter oil. These are oils with high quantities of saturated fatty acids.
4. For people with oily skin and large pores, use oils with very small quantities of saturated fatty acids to avoid blocking and enlarging the pores.
5. Never use dry oils, such as hemp, kiwi seed, chia seed, rosehip or thistle, by themselves, as this will make the skin feel dry after Swedish massage.
6. Encourage your clients to use lotions/creams regularly, which will add moisture to their skin.
7. If you use large amounts of vitamins, you can turn your recipes into prescriptions (e.g. more than 1% vitamin E oil). You can use megadoses such as up to 30% vitamin E oil but remember to add rosemary CO2 extract when using more than 2% vitamin E in blends.
8. Always use at least 0.5% vitamin E oil to your blends to avoid your massage oil going rancid after 8-10 months.
9. So, never again use a single base vegetable oil for your massage blend – us eat least 5 different raw materials into a massage blend. Examples of raw materials you can add to your massage eoil blends are: different vegetable oils for their different properties; botanical CO2 extracts for enhancing the benefits of the massage; other fat-soluble active ingredients such as Q10 plus E, bisabolol, anti-acne active formula, remodelling intense, squalane, etc.
10. Educate yourself on raw materials that you can use on your client’s skin. That way you’ll get even better results.

I wish you the best in the massage world!

Kolbjorn Borseth,
Swedish Massage therapist

Recipes for Swedish Massage Oils

Swedish Massage Oil

Makes 100ml.
This oil is used very much in Sweden as a good neutral base for all skin types, except for oily skin or large pores.

10g Coconut Butter – Solid (Melt before adding to the Blend)
30ml Olive Oil
30ml Sweet Almond Oil
23ml Thistle Oil
5ml Castor Oil
1ml/g Vitamin E Oil (undiluted)
10-15 drops Essential Oils

Luxury Swedish Massage Oil for Sensitive Skin

Makes 100ml.

Stage 1

15g Coconut Butter (melt before adding to the blend)

Stage 2

30ml Apricot Kernel Oil
25ml Jojoba Oil
5ml Peach Kernel Oil
4ml Castor Oil

Stage 3

3ml/g Vitamin E Oil (undiluted)
17ml Rosehip Oil, deodorised (Organic)
5 drops Rosemary CO2 Extract
10-15 drops Essential Oils

Method:

1. Melt the coconut oil in a bain-marie.
2. Let it cool down a bit and while it is still liquid, stir the other oils in thoroughly.
3. Stir in essential oils of your own choice.
4. Bottle and keep in a cool, dark and dry place.

Helpful hint

It is useful to write down all your recipes, including the ones which are not so successful, along with the date, a batch number and the intended purpose of the product. With all this information you should be able to work out the reason for any problems you may have and more importantly will be able to reproduce your successes.

Related Links

• Order The Aromantic Guide to Unlocking the Powerful Health & Rejuvenation Benefits of Vegetable Oils
• At Aromantic’s Advanced Massage Products Course, you can also learn to make Massage Creams/Lotions that contains both water- and oil-soluble active ingredients, which gives you a wider range of beneficial products to put on the skin during a massage. Big Swedish massage schools mainly use massage lotions and creams rather than oils. For more information about our Massage products Course, click here.
• For more information on Aromantic’s Optimising and Prescribing Vegetable Oils for Different Skin Types: Advanced Day 1, click here.
• For more information on Aromantic’s Optimising and Prescribing Vegetable Oils for Different Skin Types: Advanced Day 2, click here.
• For more information on Aromantic’s Anti-Wrinkle/Skin Rejuvenation Products Course, click here.
• For Kolbjorn Borseth’s article on Massage Oils, click here.

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