Anxiety and Massage Therapy

There's no doubt about it: massage is a great stress-buster. In our hurried world, stress is almost universal. It produces higher levels of the hormone cortisol, the so-called "fight-or-flee" substance that puts the body on high alert and can cause damage to arteries, gastrointestinal problems, higher blood pressure and frazzled nerves. Massage is one effective way to break this damaging cycle.

Benefits of "Warm Touch"

A 1998 study at Brigham Young University in Utah, published in "Psychosomatic Medicine," found that "warm touch" among married couples reduced blood pressure and levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. Researchers studied 34 healthy couples with a mean age of 25 years randomly assigned to a control group or to a four-week intervention study in which stress hormones were measured before and after the intervention---30-minute massages three times per week.

The 14 couples in the control group were tested but did not massage each other.

Stress hormones in both men and women in the intervention group were lower at the end of four weeks; husbands registered significantly lower post-treatment blood pressure than the control group, according to the study. The paper concludes that "increasing warm touch among couples has a beneficial influence on multiple stress-sensitive systems."

Chair Massage

Another study, conducted at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida and published in the "Internal Journal of the Neurosciences," looked at the effects of chair massage on stress, depression and concentration. Two times per week for five weeks, 26 adults were given a 15-minute chair massage. The control group of 24 adults was asked to just relax for 15 minutes in the chair. Stress, anxiety, depression and cortisol levels were measured before and after the five weeks.

Those who received the chair massage showed more relaxation and alertness than those in the control group. Those who got massage showed faster and more accurate computation; the control group did not change. Also, levels of stress hormones were lower in the massage group than in the control group. Depression scores were lower for both groups, but job-related stress scores were lower only in the massage group.

Massage or Music?

There is almost no difference between the effectiveness of massage to reduce anxiety and simply sitting alone and relaxing in a room with soothing music, according to a study conducted by Group Health Cooperative of Seattle and published in the mental health journal "Depression and Anxiety."

Researchers studied 68 patients with generalized anxiety disorder who took 10 one-hour sessions in a pleasant, relaxing atmosphere with massage therapists who gave either massage, relaxation therapy or applied heating pads to arms and legs. After the study, participants in all three groups said their anxiety symptoms had decreased by about 40 percent---roughly the same as with psychotherapy, medications or both. There was no control group, however, that received no treatment in the study.

Massage and Cancer

Patients with advanced cancer get immediate benefits from massage that medications can't provide. These include reduced pain and elevated mood, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health published in the September 2008 "Annals of Internal Medicine." The randomized trial of 380 advanced cancer patients at 15 American hospices suggests that massage can break the cycle of pain by reducing muscle spasms, increasing blood flow and releasing endorphins, hormones associated with a sense of well-being.

Feeling Better

Along with its documented medical benefits, most people---including athletes and the aged--- will choose massage because it makes them feel better.

References

• Psychosomatic Medicine: "Warm Touch" Support Enhancement Intervention Among Married Couples
• PubMed: Massage Therapy Reduces Anxiety
• "Annals of Internal Medicine": Massage Therapy vs. Simple Touch for Patients with Advanced Cancer

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