Massages might feel good, but are they beneficial to health? Scientific studies affirm that they are.
Studies have indicated that massage therapy decreases anxiety and respiration rates; raises white blood cell counts, which might boost immunity; reduces pain in cancer patients and migraine sufferers; improves weight gain in premature and HIV-exposed infants; decreases blood pressure in people with hypertension; alleviates depression; and improves alertness and performance in office workers.
"Massage doesn't just feel good. It actually brings about physiological changes," said Dr. Ronald Glick, medical director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania.
Those changes benefit healthy individuals as well as those who are ill.
"Many of the proven health benefits of massage come from its effect on the circulatory system," said Dr. Drew Riffe, program coordinator for the Parker School of Massage Therapy in Dallas.
Massage lowers blood pressure and heart rate, which correlates to how relaxed or tense a person is. Because stress is a contributor to cardiovascular problems, massage might be preventive as well as therapeutic for conditions such as heart disease.
One of the best indicators that massage therapy is becoming more mainstream is the increasing number of traditional health care professionals who recommend it to patients.
In a survey commissioned by the American Massage Therapy Association, 76 percent of massage therapists said they receive referrals from health care professionals.
Though the public needs no persuading about the health benefits of massage, health insurance companies have been slower to catch on. Though a growing number of insurers offer massage therapy coverage, they are more likely to cover chiropractic treatments. Chiropractors manipulate the spine to realign vertebrae and relieve pressure on nerves.
"In general, chiropractors deal more with the nervous and skeletal systems, whereas massage therapists deal mainly with the muscular and skeletal systems," Riffe said, adding that the two therapies work well with each other. "Massage alone does tend to be the recommended course of action for general relaxation, certain soft tissue disorders and if the patient simply prefers a massage over an adjustment."
-Dawn Klingensmith, CTW Features
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