Massage Away Your Stress Hormones

Another reason to get a massage:

Massage, both light and deep-tissue, has surprising health benefits. Sure, it feels great and can relax and energize your muscles. But now researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have completed a study that shows that massage affects your hormones in important ways.

What are hormones and why should you care? Hormones are basically chemicals in the cells of your body. A hormone is a kind of signal sent out from one cell to your other cells that can affect your body's metabolism-- the chemical reactions that affect, for example, how you feel.

And that's what the study shows massage can do for you-- change how you feel, and for the better. 53 lucky test subjects, according to a New York Times article, had either a 45 minute light massage, or a deep-tissue Swedish massage.

Blood samples taken before and after showed that those that received a light massage gained more oxytocin—our body's natural feel-good hormone, and a reduction in “adrenal corticotropin hormone, which stimulates the adrenal glands” to release the stress hormone cortisol. When cortisol, also known as hydrocortisone, is released, it suppresses your immune system and can increase your blood sugar.

Those that had a deep-tissue Swedish massage showed an impressive reduction in cortisol and another hormone that may increase cortisol. On top of that, there was an increase in lymphocytes, or white blood cells, that are part of your immune system.

It's one of those seemingly rare cases of something that feels good for you and turns out to actually be good for you. How often does that happen? The new study is a vindication for massage therapy, a practice with a history going back to ancient Mesopotamia that is too often dismissed as having no real health benefits.

To view the original article go to: http://www.dailystrength.org/health_blogs/teamds/article/massage-away-your-stress-hormones

Massage: A Cure for Your Back Pain?

A weekly massage can be even more effective at relieving back pain than the usual treatments, like painkillers, drugs, and physical therapy, according to a new study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers found that when people with chronic back pain added a weekly massage to their standard care regimen, nearly one third of them experienced a reduction in pain—or a complete recovery—at the end of 10 weeks. They also found themselves using fewer anti-inflammatory meds than a second group of people who didn’t opt for the massage.

Surprisingly, the study didn’t find that one type of massage had more health benefits than the other: People who received the common “Swedish”-type rub down experienced the same reduction in pain than those who had “structural massages” (a more specialized technique aimed at correcting soft tissue abnormalities).

Even though the researchers, led by Daniel C. Cherkin, Ph.D., a senior investigator at the Group Health Research Institute, are still stumped on how a rubdown offers relief, they remain convinced of massage’s merits.

“Historically, people pooh-poohed massage as a ‘feel good’ treatment, suggesting that it’s not really valid or worth paying for. But in fact, a significant number of people with chronic back pain that hasn’t responded to other treatments are getting benefits from massage,” he says.

Still, there’s no need to run to the massage table at the first tinge of pain. Oftentimes, back pain goes away on it’s own within a few days and weeks, says Cherkin. Plus, the usual treatments can work well for many people. But if the pain hasn’t subsided after a month, it might be time to try getting a weekly massage—especially if you haven’t responded to the normal types of therapy, he says.

Bonus: Structural massage is sometimes covered by insurance companies.

To view the original article go to: http://news.menshealth.com/your-once-weekly-back-pain-solution/2011/07/07/

Massage: What Feels Great and Prevents Colds?

Sure, you could consume large quantities of vitamin C or slather your body in antibacterial soap to ward off germs this cold and flu season, but here’s a remedy we think you’ll like better: Get a massage.

Turns out, massages not only feel great, they might be good for your health, too. According to a study published in The Journal of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, a massage may boost your immune system and help you better cope with stress.

The researchers divided more than 50 participants in to two groups: one that received a traditional Swedish massage and another that received a session of light touch, but didn’t include any actual massage-therapy techniques. After each 45-minute session, blood samples were taken. When compared to the light touch group, the people that received the Swedish massage experienced a significant increase in their lymphocytes—white blood cells that play a large role in protecting the body against disease—and a decrease in their levels of the stress hormones.

“We found that biological changes occur as a result of even a single session of massage, and that these changes may benefit even a healthy individual,” says Mark Hyman Rapaport, MD, one of the study’s authors and a professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Although full-body massages yielded the best immune support in this study, other research has found that a simple five-minute hand massage was able to lower stress levels as well.

To view the original article go to: http://news.menshealth.com/feels-great-and-prevents-colds/2011/10/06/

Men's Health: Fix it With Massage

I found this article today in Men's Health and thought I would share:

Massages are more than just indulgences. They're proven health and mood treatments. Read on to find out how they can benefit you.

Neck Pain:  
See a 55 percent improvement after this regimen, according to a 2009 study in the Clinical Journal of Pain. They even scored 39 percent better on the worst-sounding test ever, the Neck Disability Index. (It assesses the pain's impact.)

Athletic Performance:

"Musculotendinous" massages target muscle-tendon junctions, and a 2010 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that even a 30-second round improved hip-flexor range of motion.

Stress:

You don't need a full-body rubdown to feel good. In a 2010 study from Sweden, one 80-minute hand-and-foot massage significantly lowered people's heart rates, cortisol levels, and insulin levels—all of which help lower stress

Depression:

Take your pick: Swedish, shiatsu, and other massage types may ease depression, a 2010 meta-analysis in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found. How? Massages reduce stress hormone levels, heart rate, and blood pressure, and boost mood and relaxation by triggering the release of oxytocin and serotonin.   

High Blood Pressure:

A study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that after people with normal blood pressure had deep-tissue massage for 45 to 60 minutes, their BPs fell—specifically, by an average of 10.4 millimeters of mercury (mm/Hg) systolic, and 5.3 mm/Hg diastolic

Lower Back Pain:

Back problems can be complex. One solution is simple: Common massage techniques can help you relax, and trigger an endorphin release that raises your threshold for pain. And that might help people with all sorts of lower-back pain, notes a 2009 meta-analysis in the journal Spine.   

Constipation:

Would you like an abdominal massage with that laxative? Yes, you would: A 2009 Swedish study found that people who received a massage along with traditional constipation treatment felt significantly better than those who stuck with just laxatives.   

To view the original article: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/massage-benefits/index.php