Shiatsu. Woman carrying out shiatsu (or acupressure) massage on her hand. Shiatsu is a type of Chinese medical therapy related in its philosophy to acupuncture, t'ai chi and Chinese herbal medicine. In acupressure, pressure is applied to specific parts of the body by the hand or fingers in order to treat physical illness in another part of the body. Massage of the hand, as seen here, is to relieve indigestion, headache, toothache, menstrual cramps and constipation.