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The proofs that massage works
Massage has been used extensively to aid relaxation and to lower the amount of stress we experienced daily. It directly affects the body systems that govern the heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory and the digestive process.
Outlined below are only a sample of the effectiveness of massage. The number of studies conducted is enormous and we do not think that we would want to put it all here. However, after looking at these, we hope it provides an illustration of how massage should be treated as an alternative or complementary care for various illness.
1. Anxiety
At the Royal Marsden Hospital, London in 1995 massage was shown to reduce the amount of anxiety felt by cancer patients and at the same time improves their quality of life
2. Touch Institute
One of the institutions that spend a great deal of time researching the effect of massage is the Touch Institute, University of Miami, Florida.
Let us see what are the research outcomes from their experiment:
- HIV patient
HIV positive men, when massaged daily, will produce more of the natural cells that destroy bacteria and viruses.
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- Asthma
Asthmatic children were found to breathe more easily and suffered less number of attacks when they were massaged by their parents
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- Diabetics
In diabetics’ children, their glucose level fell to normal when massaged for 4 weeks
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- Premature Babies
Another study was conducted in 1986 on premature babies. Babies that were stroked daily were reported to have gained 47 % more weight, were more active and left hospital much earlier than premature babies who were not stroked.
Apart from these, the institute has also documented various positive effects of massage. In 1992, in treating patients who were depressed, daily massage was also shown to be more effective than a relaxation video.
3. Cancer patients
In the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, breast cancer patients was reported to have improve immune and neuroendocrine function following massage therapy. In other studies, massage therapy has been reported to reduced anxiety and depression while at the same time improved immune function including increasing the number of natural killer cells.
4. Reduce Labor Pain
This is a good news to women out there. In the Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology,18, massage therapy during the first 15 minutes of every hour of labor was reported to decrease anxiety and pain. In addition, the massaged mothers had shorter labor, shorter hospital stay and less depressed mood
5. Leukemia
In the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapy,3, there was a study on the effect of massage on kids with leukemia. In the study, twenty children with leukemia were provided with daily massages by their parents and were compared to a standard treatment control group.
Following a month of massage therapy, the study reported that depressed mood decreased in the children's parents, and the children's white blood cell and neutrophil counts increased.
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