Research on the effects of Massage Therapy

Conclusion

'Although the diagnostic criteria emphasize emotional and vegetative symptoms, major depression is also associated with painful physical symptoms such as headache, backache, stomach ache, joint ache, and muscle ache. Because depression and pain share a common neuro-chemical pathway in that they are both influenced by serotonin and norepinephrine, depression and associated painful physical symptoms must be treated together in order to achieve remission. In fact, research22 has shown that physical symptom improvement was correlated with the improvement of other depression symptoms, which suggests that the patient's ability to achieve depression remission may be directly related to the reduction of painful physical symptoms. Patients may experience significant response to treatment; however, if residual symptoms persist, patients might not fully remit and might be at greater risk for subsequent relapse. A treatment regimen that does not address physical symptoms and only focuses on core emotional symptoms could result in an incomplete remission and a poor treatment prognosis for the patient. It is necessary to choose efficacious therapeutic agents that promote the elimination of both the core symptoms and associated physical symptoms of depression to ensure remission and a return to full social functioning and to prevent relapse. There are many standardised rating scales that effectively measure the remission of physical symptoms as well as emotional symptoms.'

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC486942/

Conclusion

'This meta-analysis supports the general conclusion that MT is effective. Thirty-seven studies yielded a statistically significant overall effect as well as six specific effects out of nine that were examined. Significant results were found within the single-dose and multiple-dose categories, and for both physiological and psy-chological outcome variables. Confidence in these findings is bolstered by the results of trim and fill analyses, which indicate that the results are not unduly threatened by publication bias.'

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8922944_A_Meta-Analysis_of_Massage_Therapy_Research

Conclusion

' The results suggest that a clearer conceptualization of the therapeutic  relationship in MT may help massage therapists more purposefully treat  depressed and anxious clients. A greater emphasis on self-awareness in  the professional development of massage therapists may also foster this.  Additionally, the role of pleasure in the therapeutic relationship in  MT warrants closer examination.'

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6715325/

Clark T. The Psychotherapeutic Relationship  in Massage Therapy. Int J Ther Massage Bodywork. 2019 Aug  30;12(3):22-35. PMID: 31489060; PMCID: PMC6715325.

Conclusion

'In closing, patients accept and commonly use complementary and integrative therapies. They frequently seek out massage therapy to treat symptoms of depression and anxiety. Although data have suggested that massage may help decrease problems with depressed mood or acute anxiety, less information is available regarding the use of massage as a therapy for depression or anxiety disorders. Current data do suggest that massage may have some benefit as at least an adjuvant to conventional therapies. Although the data are limited, some findings have suggested that massage may acutely decrease hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity, have a positive effect on immune function, enhance parasympathetic tone, and modulate brain circuitry. The approach and philosophy of well-trained massage therapists is complementary to conventional psychiatric training and can thus be an important additional resource in treating patients. A respectful and collaborative approach to care may truly help patients.'

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6519566/

Rapaport MH, Schettler PJ, Larson ER, Carroll D, Sharenko M, Nettles J, Kinkead B. Massage Therapy for Psychiatric Disorders. Focus (Am Psychiatr Publ). 2018 Jan;16(1):24-31. doi: 10.1176/appi.focus.20170043. Epub 2018 Jan 24. PMID: 31975897; PMCID: PMC6519566.

Conclusion

'In this review, massage therapy has been shown to have beneficial effects on many different groups and conditions including prenatal depression, preterm infants, full-term infants, autism, skin conditions, pain syndromes including arthritis and fibromyalgia, hypertension, autoimmune conditions including asthma and multiple sclerosis, immune conditions including HIV and breast cancer and aging problems including Parkinson's and dementia. Although many of the studies have involved comparisons between massage therapy and standard treatment control groups, several have compared different forms of massage (e.g. Swedish versus Thai massage), and different active therapies such as massage versus exercise. Typically, the massage therapy groups have experienced more positive effects than the control or comparison groups, potentially because massage involves the stimulation of pressure receptors leading to enhanced vagal activity and reduced Cortisol levels. Some of the researchers have employed physical, physiological and biochemical measures, although most of them have relied exclusively on self-report measures. Despite these methodological problems and the dearth of research from the U.S., the massage therapy profession has grown significantly and massage therapy is increasingly practiced in traditional medical settings, highlighting the need for more rigorous studies'

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5564319/

Field T. Massage therapy research review. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2016 Aug;24:19-31. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2016.04.005. Epub 2016 Apr 23. PMID: 27502797; PMCID: PMC5564319.

Conclusion

'Massage therapy with duration ≥ 5 weeks had beneficial immediate effects on improving pain, anxiety, and depression in patients with FM. Massage therapy should be one of the viable complementary and alternative treatments for FM. However, given fewer eligible studies in subgroup meta-analyses and no evidence on follow-up effects, large-scale randomised controlled trials with long follow-up are warrant to confirm the current findings.'

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24586677/

Li YH, Wang FY, Feng CQ, Yang XF, Sun YH. Massage therapy for fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PLoS One. 2014 Feb 20;9(2):e89304. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089304. PMID: 24586677; PMCID: PMC3930706.

Conclusion

In the present breast cancer study, women who received 15 massage treatments over a 5-week period showed an increase in NK cell number and lymphocytes. NK cells spontaneously destroy a wide variety of cancer and virus-infected cells and are involved in eliminating metastases [40]. A boost in NK cell number would be beneficial given that some cancer patients have reduced NK cell numbers [41].

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022399903005002

Conclusion

The evidence of acupressure for mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms was significant. Importantly, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to study limitations. Future research with a well-designed mixed method is required to consolidate the conclusion and provide an in-depth understanding of potential mechanisms underlying the effects.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35111587/

Conclusion

Acupressure seems to be effective in providing immediate relief of pretreatment anxiety among adults, and has a medium effect size. However, conflicting results were found for the improvements on physiological indicators. More rigorous reporting, including allocation concealment procedure, is needed to strengthen the results.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26002571/

Conclusion

The results show that the foot reflexology massage is an effective nursing intervention to relieve fatigue, stress, and depression for postpartum women.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26364533/

Conclusion

The results suggest that head treatment has a relaxing and refreshing effect and may be used to provide comfort.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4939366/