With modern medicine focusing on preventative rather than treatment techniques, Dr. Wen-Hsuan Hou of I-Shou University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and his colleagues reviewed massage therapy treatments and their effect on depressed participants in an attempt to quantify the effectiveness of massage therapy as a potential aid against depression and a bona fide preventative technique.
How Massage Therapy Reduce Stress?
While massage can ease stress and tension and may have emotional benefits, the use of massage therapy in depressed patients is “controversial,” the investigators note, and “there is no qualitative review of the treatment effect of massage therapy in depressed patients.”
To investigate further, they searched for randomized controlled trials of massage therapy in depressed patients. They identified 17 studies, including 786 people. In 13 trials, massage therapy was compared to another active treatment such as Chinese herbs, relaxation exercises, or prescribed rest, while four compared massage to a “no treatment” control group. Investigators also used a range of methods for evaluating mood and depression in study participants.
Treating Depression With Massage
Writing in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the researchers detailed how massage therapy techniques had “potentially significant effects” in alleviating symptoms of depression. Although the exact mechanism through which massage helps achieve these results is not clearly defined, a growing body of medical research shows that massage therapy is having tangible results in the prevention of and treatment of a host of disorders, which range from anxiety and chronic pain to blood pressure, fatigue and, now, depression.
During massage treatments, the body’s endocrine system elevates the hormone oxytocin, which, in turn, impacts many of the body’s systems, guiding the perception of pain and even the body’s immune response.
The Aid of Massage Therapy
Although the researchers agreed that further studies are warranted, weight is slowly gathering on the benefits of massage therapy to prevent many of what we have come to regard as ‘modern illnesses’. These include depression, high blood pressure, stress, anxiety and a low immune system caused by a pressured modern lifestyle.
There is a tendency sometimes to over medicate in an attempt to get rid of symptoms which might have been treated in a much less aggressive way.
Massaggi provides the perfect solution to a side-effect-free means of alleviating many symptoms. By making it part of your regular health routine, you are taking the steps necessary to help maintain your health at an optimum level and ensure you enjoy your quality of life for as long as possible.
Massaggi offers treatments in three massage clinics at the hotel and your home. All our clinics are centrally located near tube stations in Marylebone High Street, Wigmore Street, and Islington/Upper Street. Ben Pianese, founder of Massaggi, offers a unique blend of massage therapy to soothe away stress and reduce the effects of anxiety and depression naturally without any drug or invasive treatment.
