Exercise-Induced Side Effects Prevention through Massage: A Historical Perspective in Traditional Persian Medicine

The culture of practicing massage therapy in Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) dates back more than a thousand years. In this article, the authors have tried to evaluate sports massage as a culture while reviewing massage in TPM texts. The types of massage, their functions, and their effects are presented in this study. There is also a brief comparison of the effects of sports massage in current studies. Today, massage has become a widely popular complementary medicine approach. Every year, 18 million Americans receive massages. There are different types of massage in various complementary medicine schools, such as Tuina massage (in Traditional Chinese Medicine) and abhyanga (in Ayurveda), which are related to Chinese and Indian medicine, respectively. In addition, modern therapeutic methods, such as chiropractic and Osteopathy, have their roots in massage.Massage is used in Traditional Persian Medicine under the titles of Dalk (to rub) and Ghamz (to squeeze). In Traditional Persian Medicine, massage serves as both a preventive and therapeutic measure for a variety of health conditions.