Massage is the most straightforward subject in this part of the site, because it makes no claims that need defending. Pressure applied to tight muscle releases it, circulation improves in the area worked, and most people rise from the table feeling considerably better than when they lay down. A modest description, and an accurate one.
It earns its place for musculoskeletal aches, for the stiff neck and shoulders that come of sitting at a desk all day, and for the ordinary accumulated tension that is not a medical problem but is not nothing either. What it will not do is treat a disease, and any reputable therapist will say the same.
Below: how the main techniques genuinely differ, how a chair massage compares with a table one and which suits what, what a first session involves for anyone who has never booked one, and how to work on shoulders and feet without a second pair of hands.