| Research in massage
therapy has been ongoing for more than 120 years.
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.
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.
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.
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