Benefits of Massage
Health, February 2007
It’s Real Medicine
by Kristyn Kusek Lewis
An hour on the table can fight pain, boost your immunity, help you sleep,
and more.
Having your honey rub your back is sweet, but it’s tough to compete with the hands of a pro. A good massage therapist
can make you feel like a new woman. And now research suggests massage can ease insomnia, boost immunity, prevent
PMS, and more. Maybe that’s why hospitals are making it a standard therapy.
Our advice: Enjoy your hands-on time with your sweetie, but set aside some Me Time for a real
massage, too. Here are six feel-good reasons.
Goodbye, pain
It sounds like a no-brainer, but rubdowns are especially effective for aches like low-back pain.
Researchers at the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle found that massage works better
than common treatments like chiropractic therapy and acupuncture. It’s not clear why, but several
studies show massage reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol while boosting the feel-good
hormones serotonin and dopamine. Those changes slow your heart rate, reduce blood pressure, and
block your nervous system’s pain receptors. Massage also increases blood flow to the muscles, which
may help them heal.
A bonus: Massage also seems to ease distress from migraine, labor pain, and even cancer, as well as
the body tenderness seen with fibromyalgia, says Tif-fany Field, PhD, director of the Touch Research
Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Plus, the benefits may last as long as a year after
just a few treatments, explains Partap Khalsa, PhD, a chiropractor and a program officer at the National
Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the agency
funding many major studies on massage.
Hello, dreams
Fluctuations in several types of brain waves either relax you or wake you up. Massage increases delta
waves—those linked with deep sleep—according to a study at the Touch Research Institute. That’s why
it’s easy to drift off on the massage table, Field says.
Nice to have you back, brain power
The Touch Research Institute study that connected massage to sleep also found that a 15-minute chair
massage boosted alertness. “Subjects reported that it felt like a runner’s high,” Field says. Tests also
show that brain-wave activity stimulated by massage is linked to improved attention.
Take that, colds
Massage helps ward off bugs by boosting your “natural killer cells,” the immune system’s first line of
defense against invading illness. “We know that cortisol destroys natural killer cells,” Field explains.
“Therefore, since massage decreases cortisol, your immune cells get a boost.” Massage even seems
to boost immunity in those people with severely compromised immune systems, such as breast-cancer
patients.
Blues, be gone
Less cortisol and more serotonin and dopamine in your system may also mean less stress, anxiety,
and depression. “We know that the right side of the frontal lobe of the brain is more active when we’re
sad, and the left side’s activated when we’re happy,” Field says. “Our studies have observed that
massage decreases activity in the right lobe and increases functioning ?in the left.” The well-being
people feel after a massage is a big reason why some hospitals offer it to anxious patients preparing for
surgery and cancer patients going through chemo.
Shove off, PMS
A small study of 24 women with severe PMS found that massage reduced symptoms such as pain,
water retention, and mood swings. Try it with proven remedies like exercise (and who-cares-if-they-work
solutions like a little dark chocolate).
It’s Real Medicine
by Kristyn Kusek Lewis
An hour on the table can fight pain, boost your immunity, help you sleep,
and more.
Having your honey rub your back is sweet, but it’s tough to compete with the hands of a pro. A good massage therapist
can make you feel like a new woman. And now research suggests massage can ease insomnia, boost immunity, prevent
PMS, and more. Maybe that’s why hospitals are making it a standard therapy.
Our advice: Enjoy your hands-on time with your sweetie, but set aside some Me Time for a real
massage, too. Here are six feel-good reasons.
Goodbye, pain
It sounds like a no-brainer, but rubdowns are especially effective for aches like low-back pain.
Researchers at the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle found that massage works better
than common treatments like chiropractic therapy and acupuncture. It’s not clear why, but several
studies show massage reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol while boosting the feel-good
hormones serotonin and dopamine. Those changes slow your heart rate, reduce blood pressure, and
block your nervous system’s pain receptors. Massage also increases blood flow to the muscles, which
may help them heal.
A bonus: Massage also seems to ease distress from migraine, labor pain, and even cancer, as well as
the body tenderness seen with fibromyalgia, says Tif-fany Field, PhD, director of the Touch Research
Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Plus, the benefits may last as long as a year after
just a few treatments, explains Partap Khalsa, PhD, a chiropractor and a program officer at the National
Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the agency
funding many major studies on massage.
Hello, dreams
Fluctuations in several types of brain waves either relax you or wake you up. Massage increases delta
waves—those linked with deep sleep—according to a study at the Touch Research Institute. That’s why
it’s easy to drift off on the massage table, Field says.
Nice to have you back, brain power
The Touch Research Institute study that connected massage to sleep also found that a 15-minute chair
massage boosted alertness. “Subjects reported that it felt like a runner’s high,” Field says. Tests also
show that brain-wave activity stimulated by massage is linked to improved attention.
Take that, colds
Massage helps ward off bugs by boosting your “natural killer cells,” the immune system’s first line of
defense against invading illness. “We know that cortisol destroys natural killer cells,” Field explains.
“Therefore, since massage decreases cortisol, your immune cells get a boost.” Massage even seems
to boost immunity in those people with severely compromised immune systems, such as breast-cancer
patients.
Blues, be gone
Less cortisol and more serotonin and dopamine in your system may also mean less stress, anxiety,
and depression. “We know that the right side of the frontal lobe of the brain is more active when we’re
sad, and the left side’s activated when we’re happy,” Field says. “Our studies have observed that
massage decreases activity in the right lobe and increases functioning ?in the left.” The well-being
people feel after a massage is a big reason why some hospitals offer it to anxious patients preparing for
surgery and cancer patients going through chemo.
Shove off, PMS
A small study of 24 women with severe PMS found that massage reduced symptoms such as pain,
water retention, and mood swings. Try it with proven remedies like exercise (and who-cares-if-they-work
solutions like a little dark chocolate).
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