Benefits of
Massage
Research in Massage Therapy
An increasing number of research
studies show massage reduces heart rate, lowers blood
pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow,
relaxes muscles, improves range of motion, and increases
endorphins (enhancing medical treatment). Although
therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, it
can stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially
compensate for the lack of exercise and inactivity resulting
from illness or injury. It also can hasten and lead to a
more complete recovery from exercise or injury.
Here are some reported benefits of
massage:
Medical school students at the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New
Jersey Medical School who were massaged before an exam
showed a significant decrease in anxiety and respiratory
rates, as well as a significant increase in white blood
cells and natural killer cell activity, suggesting a benefit
to the immune system.
Preliminary results suggested cancer
patients had less pain and anxiety after receiving
therapeutic massage at the James Cancer Hospital and
Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio.
Women who had experienced the recent
death of a child were less depressed after receiving
therapeutic massage, according to preliminary results of a
study at the University of South Carolina.
Studies funded by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) have found massage beneficial in
improving weight gain in HIV-exposed infants and
facilitating recovery in patients who underwent abdominal
surgery.
At the University of Miami School of
Medicine's Touch Research Institute, researchers have found
that massage is helpful in decreasing blood pressure in
people with hypertension, alleviating pain in migraine
sufferers and improving alertness and performance in office
workers.
Research has verified
that:
- Office workers massaged regularly
were more alert, performed better and were less stressed
than those who weren't massaged.
- Massage therapy decreased the
effects of anxiety, tension, depression, pain, and
itching in burn patients.
- Abdominal surgery patients
recovered more quickly after massage.
- Premature infants who were
massaged gained more weight and fared better than those
who weren't.
- Autistic children showed less
erratic behavior after massage therapy.
According to the American
Massage Therapy Association, massage helps both physically
and mentally.
"Often times people are stressed in
our culture. Stress-related disorders make up between 80 and
90 percent of the ailments that bring people to
family-practice physicians. What they require is someone to
listen, someone to touch them, someone to care. That does
not exist in modern medicine.
"One of the complaints heard
frequently is that physicians don't touch their patients any
more. Touch just isn't there. Years ago massage was a big
part of nursing. There was so much care, so much touch, so
much goodness conveyed through massage. Now nurses for the
most part are as busy as physicians. They're writing charts,
dealing with insurance notes, they're doing procedures and
often there is no room for massage any more.
"I believe massage therapy is
absolutely key in the healing process not only in the
hospital environment but because it relieves stress; it is
obviously foundational in the healing process any time and
anywhere."
--Joan Borysenko - Massage Journal Interview, Fall 1999
Physical Benefits of Therapeutic
Massage
- Helps relieve stress and aids
relaxation
- Helps relieve muscle tension and
stiffness
- Alleviates discomfort during
pregnancy
- Fosters faster healing of strained
muscles and sprained ligaments; reduces pain and
swelling; reduces formation of excessive scar tissue
- Reduces muscle spasms
- Provides greater joint flexibility
and range of motion
- Enhances athletic performance;
Treats injuries caused during sport or work
- Promotes deeper and easier
breathing
- Improves circulation of blood and
movement of lymph fluids
- Reduces blood pressure
- Helps relieve tension-related
headaches and effects of eye-strain
- Enhances the health and
nourishment of skin
- Improves posture
- Strengthens the immune system
- Treats musculoskeletal problems
- Rehabilitation post operative
- Rehabilitation after injury
Mental Benefits of Massage
Therapy
- Fosters peace of mind
- Promotes a relaxed state of mental
alertness
- Helps relieve mental stress
- Improves ability to monitor stress
signals and respond appropriately
- Enhances capacity for calm
thinking and creativity
- Emotional Benefits
- Satisfies needs for caring,
nurturing touch
- Fosters a feeling of well-being
- Reduces levels of anxiety
- Creates body awareness
- Increases awareness of mind-body
connection
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