Effleurage

Effleurage is a type of pressure that is usually used as effleurage massage made to affect the body with the stimulation of the nervous system. Effleurage is actually a way of using light or deep stroking motions using the flat of the hand or other flat surface. In effleurage you can use the forearm as well to do a portion of the body that needs it the most.

Light effleurage is the most popular because it uses only a superficial touch accessing the skin only. You do have full hand contact with this type of effleurage but you have very little pressure. There is no visible rippling of the skin with light effleurage. With light effleurage you have continuous effleurage, which means that you have full hand contact through the entire length of the stroke, with one hand following the other.

Deep effleurage accesses a deeper lever of the skin. The deep effleurage stroke creates a slight ripple of the skin which barely moves the muscle tissue. In fact, if the muscle tissue moves much at all the deep effleurage is much too deep. The technique for either deep or light effleurage can be a variety of fast, slow, short or long depending on the effect you want to achieve. If you want a more relaxing effleurage then you would go with the slower and longer strokes, whereas the faster and shorter strokes are made for the stimulating effleurage. Both styles of effleurage are very soothing to the skin.