The Benefits of Massage

Practitioners in the healing arts have known for thousands of years of the tremendous benefits that massage offers humanity. However, in only the past 20 years has exciting scientific research formally validated the health-enhancing influence that massage on the human body and mind:

Positive physiological changes in the immune system have been recorded (post-massage) in subjects receiving massage during research studies, including an increase in the activity level of "killer cells" and a decrease in the number of T-cells.

In a review of over one dozen studies utilizing massage, the stress hormone cortisol was found to be lowered by as much as 53 percent. Massage was also found to increase serotonin and dopamine levels, as well as neurotransmitters that help reduce depression.

Many conditions have been found to respond well to massage, including such diverse ailments as back pain, migraines, anxiety, carpal tunnel syndrome, hypertension, pregnancy, respiratory tract infections, pain and nausea in cancer, insomnia and childhood eczema.

Massage also has been found helpful in the cessation of smoking, the reduction of stress and anxiety in children, and the increased success of heart and lung transplants.

And the number of positive-result studies continues to grow!