It is important that when you are looking to perform massage therapy on someone else you learn the right movements and techniques that are required of your hands. In a number of different articles I will be explaining how you should perform the various different massage hand movements correctly. In this particular article we explain the steps you need to take in order to carry out the fan stroke technique correctly.
This particular movement compared to the others is very gentle and will prepare the muscles that are being treated with a much deeper massage later on. Below are the steps that you need to take in order to carry out this move effectively.
Step 1 – You should either kneel either beside or straddling over the person you are going to be giving the massage to. It is important that they are lying on their front (face towards the floor) in a position that they feel comfortable with.
Step 2 – You now place the palms of each hand flat on to either side of the person’s spine at a position just above where there hips are located. Then you need to apply very light pressure with both hands on to either side of the body beside the spine. However it is important that you never apply any pressure directly on to the person’s spine. Now very slowly side your hands forward along their back until you come to their shoulder blades.
Step 3 – Upon reaching the shoulder blades you need to move your hands in a curve so that they actually glide over the shoulder blades and onto the shoulders themselves. Once at the shoulder blades you now start to move the hands down the sides of the person’s body where the rib cage until you get back to the position where you originally started from.
Step 4 – The above steps need to be repeated several times and each time slightly more pressure should be applied as you continue the movement. Plus ensure that your fingers are always pointing in the same direction. That is that they should be pointing towards the back of the person’s head that is having the massage therapy.
Also when carrying out the fan stroke during a massage therapy session it is important that apply pressure to the body with the whole of your hand. However most of the pressure that they should be feeling should be as you move up their body from the hips should be coming from the heel of your hand and then from the fingers as you return to the starting position. Plus it is important that you try and keep this movement as smooth as possible and when first learning about massage therapy this is one of the best hand movements to learn first off.