Massage Therapy Reduces Anxiety and Enhances Eeg Pattern of Alertness and Math Computations

Abstract

Twenty-six adults were given a chair massage and 24 control group adults were asked to relax in the massage chair for 15 minutes, two times per week for five weeks. On the first and last days of the study they were monitored for EEG, before, during and after the sessions. In addition, before and after the sessions they performed math computations, they completed POMS Depression and State Anxiety Scales and they provided a saliva sample for cortisol. At the beginning of the sessions they completed Life Events, Job Stress and Chronic POMS Depression Scales. Group by repeated measures and post hoc analyses revealed the following: 1) frontal delta power increased for both groups, suggesting relaxation; 2) the massage group showed decreased frontal alpha and beta power (suggesting enhanced alertness); while the control group showed increased alpha and beta power; 3) the massage group showed increased speed and accuracy on math computations while the control group did not change; 4) anxiety levels were lower following the massage but not the control sessions, although mood state was less depressed following both the massage and control sessions; 5) salivary cortisol levels were lower following the massage but not the control sessions but only on the first day; and 6) at the end of the 5 week period depression scores were lower for both groups but job stress score were lower only for the massage group.

A Preliminary Study of the Effects of Repeated Massage on Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal and Immune Function in Healthy Individuals: A Study of Mechanisms of Action and Dosage

“…This is likely to be due to differences in study populations, the nature of the comparison treatment(s), and the duration, frequency, and total number of sessions. Furthermore, the two previously published reports of multiple massage sessions in healthy individuals 23,24 show little cumulative influence on salivary cortisol (treatment effect sizes of 0.11 and 0.18). Whether this raises a question about cortisol as an underlying mechanism of action for demonstrated benefits of massage clearly requires further systematic and wellcontrolled research.…”

“…There are currently only two published randomized controlled trials of the cumulative biologic effects of repeated massage in healthy participants. 23,24 This is important to study because several investigators have reported that the therapeutic effects of massage are evanescent; 4,25,26 thus, repeated massage may have different biologic and psychologic effects than a single session. An added challenge in studying cumulative effects of massage is that they may vary with ''dosage'' (i.e., the frequency or interval of time between sessions).…”

Manual therapy program induced alterations in autonomic nervous system modulation of students preparing to apply for the universities: One-group, pre- and post-test study

“…Through physiological parasympathetic stimulating, MT may promote reductions in anxiety, depression, and pain that are consistent with a state of calmness. This same mechanism may also be responsible for several condition-specific benefits resulting from MT, such as increased immune system response in HIV-positive individuals (21), or improved mental performance function during a test with changes in electroencephalography pattern consistent with increased relaxation and alertness (22). This theory is not supported universally, and it has even been suggested a long time ago that MT may promote a sympathetic response of the ANS (23).…”

Massage Therapy: Intervention Frequency and Cost Survey (IFACS) Data with Policy Implications for Nonpharmacologic Treatment of Chronic Pain

“…Two features of massage therapy that are aligned with these current national recommendations are: 1) its low side-effect profile and 2) its capacity to simultaneously treat co-morbid conditions such as chronic pain and anxiety. Massage therapy has minimal side-effects, moderate cost, and has been shown to be effective for anxiety [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] as well as chronic back, neck, and knee pain due to OA [27,28].…”