Massage

A Preliminary Study of the Effects of a Single Session of Swedish Massage on Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal and Immune Function in Normal Individuals

Rapaport MH, Schettler P, Bresee C · The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2010

This study asked what a single Swedish massage does inside the body of a healthy person. Healthy adults aged 18 to 45 received either 45 minutes of Swedish massage or a carefully matched light touch session at an academic medical center. Researchers took repeated blood samples to measure hormones and immune markers. Compared with light touch, massage produced a large decrease in arginine vasopressin, a hormone linked to stress and blood pressure, and a small decrease in cortisol. Massage also increased the number of several types of circulating immune cells and lowered levels of a range of inflammatory signalling molecules. The researchers had expected oxytocin to explain these effects, but it did not. The authors describe the results as preliminary and needing replication, and the abstract does not report a large sample.

Our summaries describe what each study found. They are not medical advice, and the practices at Halcyon are not a treatment for any condition.