Massaging is a verb used to describe the art of performing massage therapy.  Massage was developed thousands of years ago in ancient China.  There are many different types of massage ranging from Swedish, deep tissue massage, Reiki, Shiatsu, and pregnancy massage.  Massage has grown in popularity and is becoming more accepted as a healthcare treatment.  Massaging patients can be done in many different places and at various time increments.  Typically, massages last 15, 30, 60, or 90 minutes and differ greatly in price depending on geographical location.  Massage therapy training is now being offered in higher demand within colleges.  Colleges are recognizing the importance of massage as well as the economical growth and awareness it brings to communities.  Massage therapists can make a very successful and lucrative career working as independent contractors or as employees.  Many states in various chiropractic offices and hospitals can currently bill insurance for massage therapy making it more accessible and affordable to the general population.  In these settings, massage therapy is typically therapeutic in nature and the goal is pain relief and postural correction versus relaxation and stress reduction.  Massage therapy sessions are shorter in duration lasting about 15-30 minutes and focus on muscle stripping and trigger point release.  Massage works to correct muscle hypertonicity.  Hypertonicity causes the muscles to pull on the bones of the spinal column therefore causing subluxation and impinging nerves in the spinal canal.  Reducing muscle spasticity eases the job of the Chiropractor making the adjustment easier and hold longer for the patient.  Massage therapy has been around for thousands of years and will continue to be because its effects are numberous.