14 Surprising Massage Benefits: A Summary of Recent Studies
While massage is sometimes seen as more of a luxurious action during a spa weekend with your friends, it can also be a life saver for those experiencing pain and side effects from illnesses, disorders, and conditions. Massage therapy has a number of incredible benefits for a wide variety of people and those recent studies are summarized here:
ScienceDirect
“The Beneficial Effects of Massage Therapy for Insomnia in Postmenopausal Women”
Summary: This study shows that there are various beneficial effects of massage therapy for insomnia in postmenopausal women. Menopause comes with a lot of undesirable issues and insomnia is just one of the many things that can affect your body and ultimately your life. While hormone therapy used to be something that was believed to be potentially helpful, new research has shown that there are cardiovascular risks associated with it as well as the development of tumors. Due to this concern, scientists have conducted research to find other ways to help postmenopausal women try and avoid certain symptoms of menopause. The study conducted showed that there was improvement in the sleep patterns of postmenopausal women who used massage therapy as a method for their symptoms. This article and study really focuses on the need for new and alternative forms of treatment for women experiencing menopause and its symptoms. The scientists behind this study believe the research is promising and that someday they can ultimately help postmenopausal women more than they can today. You can read the full article here.
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U.S. News & World Report: Health
“Timing Is Key to Massage's Benefits
for Neck Pain: Study”
Summary: Neck pain is one of the most
pesky and irritating issues to deal with. This article from the
Health section of U.S. News & World Report talks about the study
done to show massage benefits for neck pain. Research shows that with
the help of a professional therapist and the proper length of time,
you can relieve neck pain for good. Karen Sherman, senior scientific
investigator at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, conducted
a study in which the effects of one month of massage was tested. In
retrospect, what was found in the end was that those who chose a one
hour massage three times a week had much more significant improvement
with their pain than those who did not. Sherman made it clear that
doctors often recommend various anti-inflammatory medicines (like
Naproxen) but they don't actually give the patient much pain relief.
She stated, “People with back and neck pain aren't usually
satisfied with what they get from their doctor, so they are looking
around for something that works.” Because of how many people
experience neck pain on a regular basis, Sherman found it pertinent
that this study be done in order to show unsatisfied patients that
there are other options to help with excruciating neck pain, such as
a massage or special neck exercises. You can read the full article on
Sherman's study here.
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ScienceDaily
“Massage Therapy Improves Circulation, Alleviates Muscle Soreness”
Summary: The University of Illinois at
Chicago conducted a study in regards to the benefits of massage
therapy and came to the conclusion that “massing therapy improves
general blood flow and alleviates muscle soreness after exercise,
according to a study. The results also shower that massage improved
vascular function in people who had not exercised, suggesting that
massage has benefits for people regardless of their level of physical
activity.” UIC stresses the importance of the bond and relationship
between massage therapy and injuries. They also touched on the
science behind massage therapy being a way to alleviate muscle
soreness after exercise and other physical activity. They had a group
of health adults exercise their legs with a generic leg press
machine. They then had half of the participants receive standard
Swedish massage techniques, while the other half did not have any
sort of massages performed. In the end, the results were that those
who received a 90 minute massage had no soreness after their
sessions, while the participants who didn't get a massage had
continuing soreness still after 24 hours of their exercise. All in
all, the study showed that massage therapy is incredibly important to
feeling well after exercise and other forms of physical activity. Go here to read the article in its entirety.
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Huffpost Healthy Living
“Here's Why You Should Book Your Next Massage ASAP”
Summary: This short article from the Huffington Post Healthy Living page discusses the vital reasons that massage therapy may be beneficial to you and your overall health. It touches on the important factor that as humans we should not feel guilty for getting a massage (due to their “luxurious” nature) because it can actually help you in a number of ways. While some may go to the spa solely to relax, others are actually getting a massage because of an issue or ailment with their body. The article discusses the different benefits of massage with valid evidence to back up those specific claims. According to multiple studies, massage therapy can reduce pain, help you sleep, ward of colds and flu, heighten your alert senses, ease cancer treatments and side effects, alleviate depression, and decrease headaches. A section of the article even discusses the science behind stress reduction overall and how important it is to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. There is even a super informative picture slideshow at the bottom of the page telling you what to expect when attending your first ever massage session. Read the full article here.
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PR Newswire
“Heart Health Benefits from Regular
Visits to a Massage Therapist”
Summary: This article is simply telling
the audience about the amazing heart health benefits that can come
from visiting a massage therapist on a regular basis. Newswire
acknowledges that many already see massage as a way to help relieve
body and muscle pain, but stresses that there is so much more to
thank massage therapy for. The American Massage Therapy Association
has stated that professional massage therapists can help their
clients improve cardiovascular health. A study conducted by the
International Journal of Preventive Medicine
in 2013 showed that correct massage therapy could help intervene in
order to help control issues such as high blood pressure: “The
study showed that the immediate results of lowered blood pressure
lasted up to 72 hours after massage.” Another study done by the
same group showed that Swedish massage specifically helped lower
blood pressure in a period of 4 weeks. In conclusion, the study
conducted was essentially to show those with cardiovascular issues
that there is a way to be proactive and help lower their chances of
further issues and death. The study was also a way to let others know
that massage therapy is a way to practice early prevention when it
comes to attempting to avoid cardiovascular issues. You can access
the full article here.
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PLOS|One
“Massage Therapy for Fibromyalgia: A
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials”
Summary: It seems that the relationship
between massage therapy and Fibromyalgia is clouded and controversial
when it comes to asking if massage is actually effective in helping
relieve Fibromyalgia pain. This study was conducted in order to
evaluate the evidence of massage therapy and Fibromyalgia patients to
see if there are effective therapy options for those patients.
Patients were sought out and research found that the most common
issues reported for Fibromyalgia “were pain, anxiety, depression,
and sleep disturbance.” Nine different trials with FM patients and
massage therapy were performed for 5 or more weeks and those patients
“had beneficial immediate effects on improving pain, anxiety, and
depression.” But, ultimately, those current findings could not be
completely backed up due to “fewer eligible studies in subgroup
meta-analyses and no evidence on follow-up effects.” The full
article shows charts and data that help discuss the specifics behind
the pain, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance issues in FM
patients and can help you better understand their study and their
findings. To see those charts and full study you can go here.
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Oregon Live
“Kids With Autism See Big Benefits
from Massage, Study Says”
Summary: Autism in general has been a
hot topic for some time because people strive to know and understand
more about it for their own sake, the sake of their family, and their
children. The Oregon Live reported on a study performed by Dr. Louisa
Silva, founder of the Oregon-based Qigong Sensory Training Institute;
her treatment is a massage centered program specifically for autistic
children and can ultimately help reduce the disorder and help the
children live more normally in their day to day lives. Overall, her
treatment was found to be extremely helpful and effective in both
high and low functioning autistic children. The treatment is 15
minutes of whole body massage and essentially removes the obstacle of
needing “language and ability to focus.” Silva has parents
trained to use this treatment with their children daily (children
under the age of 6, early intervention). Reports from the study
showed some amazing results: in the first study report, out of 103
preschoolers in Oregon, the severity of the disorder decreased by 32
percent after the treatment; this resulted in far better behavior and
language skills. “Children in the study also experienced an 18
percent increase in receptive language,” Silva said. This study was
a breakthrough for parents who were struggling with the difficulty of
trying to communicate with and understand their children. Read more details about Silva's study here.
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Everyday Health
“How Massage Can Reduce Cancer Pain
and Anxiety”
Summary: For those undergoing cancer
treatment, the side effects of such treatment may be very unpleasant
and the need for relief may be vital. A meta-analysis was published
in 2015 in Integrative Cancer Therapies on the correlation between
massage therapy and cancer pain, etc. It was found that massage
therapy in fact did help reduce pain in cancer patients. A big find
was determining that the massage therapy practices were extremely
effective for those who has post-surgery pain. The “nurturing
touch” has been found to do wonders for those suffering from cancer
and can in return be potentially life changing for them as well. A
few other small studies were conducted, one in 2014 in the
Journal
of Clinical Trials
concluded
that the stress levels and quality of life of patients with acute
myelogenous [myeloid] leukemia greatly improved with the help of
therapeutic massage techniques. The other study from
The
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
in 2013, showed that there was a possibility that therapeutic massage
helped improve the pain and sleep quality of those at home with
metastatic cancer. A cool new thing to learn is that oncology massage
is a type of massage that was developed specifically for cancer
patients because it uses gentle and careful approaches. The cost,
frequency of visits, and insurance coverage are all discussed in this
article as well. It was reported that cancer patients usually get a
massage at least once a week and their standard prices range anywhere
from $50 for a half-hour to $75-90 an hour depending on your local,
whether that's rural or urban. Some insurance providers coverage a
certain amount of massages per year while others do not. Overall,
this article is great at giving cancer patients and concerned family
and friends the information they need in order to help alleviate some
of the pain in their loved ones life. Read the full story here.
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Arthritis Foundation
“Benefits of Massage”
Summary: When your body is in pain it
is natural to want to fight that pain and get rid of it as soon as
humanly possible. Some people who suffer from Arthritis have found
that a soothing massage can help with the stress and extreme pain
they feel from inflammation in their joints. It has been studied and
found to be true that any type of massage that helps alleviate pain
in the joints and muscles of your body is helpful and that directly
correlates to the issues those who have Arthritis face on a daily
basis. This article mentions Tiffany Field, a PhD and director of the
Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of
Medicine, has conducted a variety of studies on the benefits of
therapeutic massage. In regards to patients with Arthritis, Field
found that “regular use of the simple therapy led to improvements
in pain, stiffness, range of motion, hand grip strength and overall
function of the joints.” In general, significant improvements with
pain have been reported in those facing issues with Arthritis. While
massage therapy is recommended for those suffering from Arthritis,
Field reported that moderate to light pressure is the best for these
types of patients. “The critical things is using moderate
pressure... light pressure, just touching the surface of the skin or
brushing it superficially, is not getting at those pressure
receptors. Light pressure can be stimulating, not relaxing,” she
said. All in all, the article shows how massage therapy can really
help those with Arthritis, they just urge patients to check with
their doctor before heading off to get a massage. See the benefits of massage in regards to Arthritis here.
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Hindawi Publishing Corporation
“The Effects of Massage Therapy on
Multiple Sclerosis Patients' Quality of Life and Leg Function”
Summary: A study was conducted on the
use of noninvasive massage therapy to help individuals with multiple
sclerosis (MS) and with their standard treatment. The students
involved with this study from the College of Medicine at the
University of Saskatchewan in Canada hypothesized that the use of
massage therapy would ultimately help improve function in the legs
and overall quality of life in those who suffer from MS. MS “is a
demyelinating disorder of the upper motor neurons” and the
“degeneration of the neuronal myelin sheath results in abnormal
firing of the upper motor neurons.” Essentially, this means that a
number of debilitating issues can occur in patients who have been
diagnosed with MS. They can experience various issues which can leave
them in severe pain and even affect their mobility. Chronic stress
has also been reported as a symptom of MS because cytokine response
(cell movement) is weakened and this can make things much worse for
the patients. While most of the treatments for MS and its symptoms
are strictly pharmaceutical, the students doing this study wanted to
make sure it was known that massage therapy can be a
non-pharmaceutical alternative to pain associated with MS. Massage
can be used as a way to put pressure on certain mechanoreceptors thus
signals from the pain receptors to the spinal segment can be blocked
and pain can be avoided. 45 minute full body massages with specific
focus on the lower half of the body were given to MS patients. The
results of the study showed that while massage is an alternative, the
statistics were not alarming to significant improvement in those who
participated. What can be taken from the study is that massage is
something that could have potential to help someone and can be added
to their treatment program if desired. Go here to read the full study.
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Lohud The Journal News 
“Massage Can Ease Side Effects of Cancer Treatment”
Summary: As discussed in an earlier
article above, massage has been seen as a way to help cancer patients
with side effects of treatment. This article specifically talks about
Gloria Esteves, a retired Spanish teacher, who was diagnosed with an
aggressive type of uterine cancer. The side effects of her
chemotherapy and cancer treatment included nerve damage, weakness,
high grade sensitivity, numbness, extreme pain in the hands and
feet—all things that occur from peripheral neuropathy. After
battling cancer for a number of years and experiencing the horrific
side effects of cancer treatment, Esteves decided to take a different
approach and she went in to see a licensed massage therapist in hopes
of alleviating her pain through oncology massage techniques. After
her experience, Esteves believes that oncology massages should be
promoted more for cancer patients experiencing extreme pain and other
side effects. From her personal experience, Esteves stressed that she
was absolutely amazed at how much relief she got from choosing
massage therapy as an alternative for cancer treatment. Her massage
therapist Sean Chillemi definitely understands what cancer patients
are experiencing because he himself is a survivor of skin cancer. His
worldview changed and he began to shift careers and learn more about
Eastern medicine. His desire to help others restore their health has
most definitely made an impact on those who choose to come to him for
oncology massage treatments. The nice thing about Chillemi's approach
is that his oncology massage doesn't just target one symptom, it
helps treat everything. To read more about Esteves experience go here.
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Massage Today
“Aging Gracefully: The Timeless
Benefits of Massage”
Summary: This article talks about the
incredible benefits of massage and how tailored this type of therapy
has become depending on your situation and lifestyle. For example, an
athlete may need a completely different massage than a pregnant
woman; the same goes for other people such as small children and
infants, the elderly, and cancer patients. It seems as though people
today view massage therapy as a staple to living a healthy life and
want to find insurance packages that cover and include this type of
option. It was found that elderly are the ideal individuals to
benefit from massage therapy. The article stresses that each elderly
patient can be different: “You could help prepare a 70-year-old
marathoner for the next event or you could simply hold an exhausted
hospice patient.” This can be extremely beneficial for elderly
patients because with age comes a higher stress level, stiff and sore
joints, and other various health problems. One of the points trying
to be made here is that when done correctly, geriatric bodywork isn't
something that can cause harm, and it can even help replace some of
the medications patients are taking for pain and stiff joints,
stress, etc. Wellness Director Krista Broshears even stated, “With
much success, our massage therapy participants have sought massage to
alleviate problems due to Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease,
poor circulation, diabetes and arthritis.” Science is a huge part
of massage and it cannot be denied that it has been proven to help
the nervous system and the circulation of blood, and so on. A
half-hour massage each week can really be beneficial for the elderly
and help alleviate their “age-related” conditions. These types of
geriatric massage are usually short sessions where very gentle hand
motions are used to massage the hands and feet; sometimes stronger
movements are used in the shoulders to aid in promoting flexibility.
You can find the full article here.
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Denver
Integrative Massage School
“Massage
Study: Effects of Massage on Immune Function”
Summary:
This study, conducted by Dr. Mark Rapaport from the Massage Therapy
Foundation, was done in order to see how the body responded to a one
time Swedish massage therapy session versus a “light touch control
group.” Rapaport had a hypothesis which assumed that those who were
given the one time Swedish massage session would experience an
increase in their oxytocin levels. This would “in turn decrease the
activity of various hormones involved with the hypothalamic-adrenal
(HPA) connection and ultimately improve immune function. A group of
53 people were split into the light touch and Swedish massage groups
and given those treatments for 45 minutes. They did things like take
blood and saliva samples from the individuals and also took
psychological self-report statements before and after the massage as
well. The findings to this specific study were rather interesting and
it was found that even one session of Swedish massage produced
outstanding positive effects for the immune system and HPA connection
in the patients bodies. “When compared to light touch, the Swedish
massage therapy caused a decrease in vasopressin and cortisol levels,
as well as an improvement in the biomarkers for immune function.
However, contrary to the hypothesis, these findings were not caused
by changes in oxytocin levels.” But overall, Dr. Rapaport and his
colleagues did come to the conclusion that a single Swedish massage
session will most likely have positive effects on a patient's immune
system and stress hormone levels. Go here to read the full study on massage and immune function.
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Massage-St.Louis
“Benefits
of Massage Therapy for Anxiety and Depression”
Summary:
This article starts off with a few statistics on the number of people
estimated to be suffering from disorders such as anxiety or
depression. Anxiety and depression can cause a number of issues in
one's social and professional life and can also cause other health
related issues as well. It is true that these types of disorders can
be treated with medications but some people do not want to be taking
medications when there are alternative routes and options. Massage
therapy is one of those alternative forms of medication to help a
patient overcome anxiety and depression related issues. A study
conducted at the Touch Research Institute showed that 30 minutes of
massage therapy improved the mood and behavior of patients
hospitalized for depression, etc. While many are still not sure
exactly how massage therapy works to alleviate anxiety and
depression, there are studies continually being conducted to find out
more information into how massage therapy works in the body in
regards to these issues. It is guessed that “perhaps it is the
combined effect of focused, caring attention and tactile stimulation,
or perhaps the muscular relaxation signals used in the brain to shift
to a more calm state.” The author also stresses that massage
therapy alone should not be the source of treatment for those who are
depressed and suffer from anxiety. Instead, massage therapy should be
used as a treatment to accompany whatever other treatment the patient
has decided to use to help them. Read the whole story here.
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