2014 Volume 77 Issue 4 Pages 306-313
On December 11, 2013, we visited Baden, a hot spring town in Switzerland. The natural hot spring water at Baden contains sulfur, is 46.5°C with a pH of 6.43, and is used in both drinking and bathing therapies. In addition to the hot spring, the hotel spa contains a massage parlor for medical massage, relaxing massage, cosmetic massage, or various other types of massage. Previous studies have reported a preference in about half the Swiss population for hospitals that offer complementary and alternative medicine. Also, acupuncture, manual therapy, and massage are frequently used in such facilities. Medical Center Baden has both a medical department and a therapeutic department. In the medical department, medical doctors practice manual medicine (manuelle Medizin) and in the therapeutic department, physical therapists (Physiothera-peuten) practice various kinds of physical therapy (Physiotherapie) such as manual therapy (manuelle Therapie), kinetics (funktionelle Bewegungslehre), biomechanics, respiratory therapy, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, and electrotherapy/ultrasound. Medical massage therapists (medizinische Masseure) in the therapeutic department practice various kinds of massage including classic massage, manipulative massage, reflexology, connective tissue massage, manual lymphatic drainage, and Fango (a type of pelotherapy). These divisions indicate that the practices of massage and manual therapy in German-speaking Switzerland are sorted and named individually by the stimulated anatomical tissue and by type of functional and physical stimulation. In contrast, Japanese manual therapy, Anma massage therapy is holistic and based on the patient’s subjective physical and mental state. These are characteristic features of Eastern Asian medicine, which tends toward whole-body, individualized treatments.
