Listed below are a few abstracts of published journal articles that support the use of massage therapy in medicine today.

If you would like to learn more about additional studies, click the hyper-link at the bottom of this page to the National Library of Medicine and enter a search on "massage therapy".

*Am Psychol 1998 Dec;53(12):1270-81

MASSAGE THERAPY EFFECTS

Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, FL

Massage therapy is older than recorded time, and rubbing was the primary form of medicine until the pharmaceutical revolution of the 1940s. ...Massage therapy has recently received empirical support for facilitating growth, reducing pain, increasing alertness, diminishing depression, and enhancing immune function. In this article studies are reviewed that document these effects, and models are proposed for potential underlying mechanisms.

PMID: 9872050 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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*Clin Nurs Res 1998 Aug;7(3):309-25

EFFECTIVENESS OF NEUROMUSCULAR RELEASE MASSAGE THERAPY FOR CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE LUNG DISEASE

School of Nursing, University of Wyoming, Laramie

The purpose was to examine neuromuscular release massage therapy as an intervention for individuals with chronic obstructive lung disease to improve pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, and quality of life. ...Four of five participants had an increase in thoracic gas volume, peak flow, and forced vital capacity. Paired differences resulted in significant changes in heart rate, oxygen saturation, and time of breath hold. Repeated measured analysis of variance indicated a significant interaction between participant and time for heart rate, oxygen saturation, and systolic blood pressure. The results suggest that individuals with chronic obstructive lung disease do benefit from neuromuscular release massage therapy ...

PMID: 9830928 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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*J Burn Care Rehabil 2001 Mar-Apr;22(2):191-5

CHILDREN'S DISTRESS DURING BURN TREATMENT REDUCED

Touch Research Institutes, University of Miami School of Medicine, Florida 33101

Before dressing changes, 24 young children hospitalized for severe burns received standard dressing care OR massage therapy in addition to standard dressing care. The massage therapy was conducted to body parts that were not burned. During the dressing change, the children who received massage therapy showed minimal distress behaviors and no increase in movement other than torso movement. In contrast, the children who did not receive massage therapy responded to the dressing change procedure with increased facial grimacing, torso movement, crying, leg movement and reaching out. Nurses also reported greater ease in completing the dressing change procedure for the children in the massage therapy group. These findings suggest that massage therapy attenuates young children's distress responses to aversive medical procedures and facilitates dressing changes.

*Smoking cravings are reduced by self-massage

*Adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder benefit from massage therapy

*Massage therapy as a workplace intervention for reduction of stress

*Pain and tension are reduced among hospital nurses after on-site massage treatments

*HIV adolescents show improved immune function following massage therapy

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