Indian Head Massage is a wonderful ancient massage technique that has evolved over many hundreds of years to encourage healthy hair growth and to relieve muscular and joint tension in the head and upper body. In India it is normal to have a head massage every time you go to the hairdressers, as they believe that it helps encourage a healthy scalp and hair growth.
Treatments vary in length but are often half an hour long so can easily be incorporated into our hectic lives. It is normal to remain clothed and many therapists do not use oils so you won’t leave the treatment looking a state, although if this is a concern you should check beforehand.
The therapist will massage your head, neck, shoulders, arms, upper back and face in order to increase blood flow, ease muscle tension and strain.
Indian Head Massage Techniques
The therapist will usually start the treatment on the head and use a variety of Indian head massage techniques including long strokes (effleurage) this warms up your head, shoulders and tops of your arms and helps you feel comfortable with the therapist touching you. Then they might do some finger circles all over your head, gentle hair tugging which increases blood flow, finger combing through your hair, and static pressure which is where the therapist will push and release over your head which relaxes and stimulates the nerve endings in the scalp and promotes healthy hair growth. Then they might do some tapping, squeezing and lifting of the scalp and finally some gently chopping (hacking).
Indian Head Massage Routine
After 15-20 minutes they will move onto the neck and shoulders and will massage either side of the spine using their knuckles, fingers and sometimes forearms to knead the muscles with a gentle but firm pressure. This feels wonderful and releases tension that is often held in the neck and shoulders. Then the therapist will move onto the arms and relax you further with some more effleurage and they might squeeze and release using their forearms, there will be some skin rolling (which sounds painful, but isn’t and is very relaxing) and gentle hacking (chopping) on the arm muscles. Once your arms are relaxed the focus will move to your back with gentle but firm massaging either side of the spine. Here it is usual to lean forward on a massage chair or to lie down on a massage table with your forehead supported on a pillow.
Finally the face is treated to strokes across your forehead, cheeks, jaw and chin, ear kneading, gentle circling around the eyes, eyebrow pinching and temple circles.
All of these Indian head massage techniques will leave you feeling incredibly relaxed, your muscles will feel softer and tension in your body will be gone.