The massage and the science
Have you ever wondered what the science behind massage is ? Lucky for us, the Canadian Massage association AQTN has compiled a comprehensive literary review in the context of weather massage should be provided as part of hospital care! The evidence is compelling and the amount of research is really amazing.
To give you just a brief idea of which truly medical areas benefit from massage, here a short excerpt:
Massage can benefit people with HIV/AIDS when used in conjunction with other techniques such
as meditation and relaxation training ;
– Anxiety, pain, nausea, sleep quality and general quality of life – one 30 minute massage for
three consecutive weeks is deemed sufficient ;-
– Easing general aches and pains, especially in patients who are bed-bound or have limited mobility ;
– Sleep quality, reducing sleep disturbances and increasing restorative sleep ;
– Connective tissue massage combined with joint manipulation for scleroderma helped improve
fist closure, hand motion, hand function and quality of life. Fist closure, however, also improved
under the control group in this study ;
– Reducing side effects of chemotherapy and radiation (breast cancer patients). Also reduces
depression, anger, distress, nausea, fatigue, anxiety and pain and improves mood (administered
to patients following bone marrow transplantation) ;
– Pain relief and better satisfaction for pain management in labor (but so did immersion in water,
relaxation, acupuncture) – small study size ;
– Relaxation for preventing preterm labor – there is some evidence that mind-body therapies
(meditation, massage, yoga, reflexology, breathing exercises, visualization, music therapy and
aromatherapy) are effective ;
– Massage treatments attenuates stress-driven body fat acquisition in male preterm infants, a
great non-invasive therapy. Also reduces metabolic problems to preterm infants as they age ;
– May shorten hospital stay in premature infants ;
– Pain, stiffness, physical functional stability for knee osteoarthritis ;
– Effective for posterior shoulder tightness (less effective in patients who’d had symptoms for
longer duration) ;
– Massage decreases neonatal abstinence syndrome ;
– Massage is more effective than T
For the complete report see below and marvel 🙂
