Massage is as old as mankind itself. The simple act of rubbing and rubbing ourselves when we hit some surface may well be considered a massage, and this is an act as instinctive as breathing itself. However, its application for therapeutic purposes is younger, and the first records of its use with these intentions date back to the years 2700 BC in China, where the use of manual manipulation techniques of muscle tissues for healing purposes was documented.
But it would not be the only civilization to do so. The Egyptians have also recorded in papyri and hieroglyphics how massage could have various health benefits and the prevention of various diseases. In India and Greece we can also find testimonies and documents on the use of massage as a therapy, and even the indigenous civilizations of the earliest America also gave colossal importance to its application for healing.