Saturday, September 12, 2009

Massage Therapy Research

The therapeutic benefits of massage continue to be researched and studied. Recent research has shown the effectiveness of massage for the following conditions:

  • Cancer-related fatigue.
  • Low back pain.
  • Osteoarthritis of the knee.
  • Reducing post-operative pain.
  • Boosting the body’s immune system functioning.
  • Decreasing the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.
  • Lowering blood pressure.
  • Reducing headache frequency.
  • Easing alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
  • Decreasing pain in cancer patients.
From American Massage Therapy Association

Monday, September 7, 2009

Can You Rub Out High Blood Pressure?

Finally. An indulgence that may actually be good for you. What is it, you ask? A long, deep massage.

When people with sore muscles received a deep-tissue massage, both their systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) numbers dropped several points. Nice.

More Points for Pressure
There's still more research needed in order to figure out if regular massage could reduce high blood pressure long-term. But in this study, people averaged a short-term drop from about 125/76 down to 115/70 -- after just 45 to 60 minutes of deep-tissue work from a licensed bodyworker. Not too shabby. The massage sessions also induced a relaxing 10-point drop in heart rate. Ahhh.