We've Moved!!

We have recently rebranded and our new name is Incorporate Massage. Our new blog page is at www.incorporatemassage.com/blog. Come visit us!!

Win a $50 gift card just for Liking us!

We are excited to announce our end-of-year Facebook promotion! Like The Massage Advantage on Facebook and you will be automatically entered to win a $50 Visa gift card! We love to reward the people who love us! Read more details on our website here- TMA Special Offers Good luck!!

Massage and Anxiety

I'm kind of big on research. I like to study; I like facts. I'm from the Show-Me State, so maybe that's why...

Since The Massage Advantage is my company, we are big on research as well. So I'm happy to announce that we finally finished up our research on the effects of massage and anxiety!

We have collected 14 clinical trials and studies that prove that receiving massage on a regular basis reduces anxiety, stress and depression. You can see more research, as well as the citations to the studies below, by clicking the link to our website above.

Here is what we found out:

• Randomized controlled trial on sixty nurses for five week study on receiving a 15 minute back massage once a week. The control group did not receive any therapy. Anxiety and stress scores decreased over the five weeks for those participants who received a weekly massage. The stress and anxiety scores of the control group increased over the five week period.

• Thirty-four breast cancer patients were randomly assigned to a massage group or a control group. Patients of the massage group received two 30-min massages per week for 5 weeks. Depression and anxious depression were significantly reduced immediately after massage compared to the control group.

• This study evaluated the effectiveness of an on-site chair massage therapy program in reducing anxiety levels of employees. Subjects participated in the chair massage therapy program or break therapy (control group) for 6 weeks for 15 minutes a week. Significant reductions in anxiety and stress levels were found for the massage group.

• This pilot study on cardiovascular patients showed statistically and clinically significant decreases in pain, anxiety, and tension scores were observed for patients who received a 20-minute massage compared with those who received standard care.

• Forty patients with fibromyalgia were randomly assigned to a massage therapy group or a relaxation control group. The massage group attended a 50-min session twice per week for 3 weeks and the relaxation group relaxed in a lying down position on the same schedule. The massage therapy group showed decreases in depressed mood, anxiety and regional pain.

• This randomized, controlled clinical trial conducted from June 2008 to January 2009 was performed on eighty-two adult patients receiving inpatient treatment for psychoactive drug withdrawal. Chair massage was more effective in reducing anxiety than relaxation.

• In a 2010 study, therapist observation and patient feedback suggested that massage therapy may lead to a state of increased relaxation, decreased stress, decreased muscle tension, and improved sleep.

• Study to examine the effectiveness of a daily 20 minute massage therapy program in reducing stress, anxiety and aggression on a young adult psychiatric inpatient unit over seven weeks. There was a significant reduction in anxiety, resting heart rate and cortisol levels immediately following massage therapy sessions. Significant improvements in hostility and depression scores were observed. Massage therapy had immediate beneficial effects on anxiety-related measures.

• Twenty-four adult fibromyalgia patients were assigned randomly to a massage therapy or relaxation therapy group. They received 30-minute treatments twice weekly for 5 weeks. Both groups showed a decrease in anxiety and depressed mood immediately after the first and last therapy sessions. However, across the course of the study, only the massage therapy group reported an increase in the number of sleep hours and a decrease in their sleep movements. In addition, substance P levels decreased, and the patients' physicians assigned lower disease and pain ratings and rated fewer tender points in the massage therapy group.

• Adults were given a chair massage, and control group adults were asked to relax in a chair for 15 minutes, two times a week for five weeks. Frontal delta power increased for both groups, suggesting increased relaxation. The massage group showed decreased alpha and beta power, and increased speed and accuracy on math computations. At the end of the five-week period depression scores were lower for both groups but job stress decreased only for the massage group.

• Forty-six adults were randomly assigned to a massage therapy or a standard treatment control group. Those assigned to the massage therapy group were massaged by a therapist once a week for a 4-week period. The massage therapy group versus the control group had lower anxiety and depressed mood scores, as well as decreased sleep disturbances.

• Thirty-two people received ten 30-minute sessions of massage therapy or relaxation therapy over a five-week period. Subjects were randomly assigned to each group. Although both groups reported lower anxiety following their first and final sessions, only the massage therapy group showed behavioral and stress hormone changes, including a decrease in anxious behavior, heart rate and cortisol levels.

• Adult subjects were randomly assigned to a massage therapy, a transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS), or a transcutaneous electrical stimulation no-current group for 30-minute treatment sessions two times per week for 5 weeks. The massage therapy subjects reported lower anxiety and depression, and their cortisol levels were lower immediately after the therapy sessions on the first and last days of the study. The TENS group showed similar changes, but only after therapy on the last day of the study.

Is there something else you would like to see more of? Have any other topics that interest you? Let me know and we will track it down!

Our feature in Salt Lake Magazine!!

We are so excited to announce that our company has been chosen to be featured in the October 2011 issue of Salt Lake Magazine's Women in Business special!! Check us out on page 55!

2011 Talk of the Town 5 Star Customer Service Award!

We are so excited to announce that The Massage Advantage is a recipient of the 2011 Talk of the Town 5-Star Customer Service Award! This awesome award was given to us based on our client's google reviews and social media posts about our company. We are so proud of our accomplishment. Thank you to all our wonderful clients for making this possible!!

Massage and Immune Function

This week in our massage therapy research, I came across these two clinical studies showing the positive effects of massage on immune function, that will soon be added to our research section of our website. Here's to feeling good!

Study shows that a single session of massage therapy produces measurable biologic effects on the immune system. These findings may have implications for managing inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. (Rapaport, M., Schettler, P., Bresee, C. A Preliminary Study of the Effects of a Single Session of Swedish Massage on Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal and Immune Function in Normal Individuals. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, October 2010, 16(10): 1079-1088. http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2009.0634)

Study measured the effects of a 20-minute massage on spouses of patients with cancer randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The major dependent variables including natural killer cell activity, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mood, and perceived stress were measured at the three time points to examine the effects of massage. Findings suggest that massage may enhance mood and reduce perceived stress, thereby preventing stress from negatively affecting immune function. (Goodfellow, LM. The Effects of Therapeutic Back Massage on Psychophysiologic Variables and Immune Function in Spouses of Patients with Cancer. Nursing Research, 2003 Sep-Oct; 52(5): 318-28. http://journals.lww.com/nursingresearchonline/Abstract/2003/09000/The_Effects_of_Therapeutic_Back_Massage_on.6.aspx)

Massage and Blood Pressure

During our weekly research hours I came across some new research I was able to add to our Facts page with massage research. There were two studies we found.

Study#1 showed the effectiveness of a 15-min on-site seated massage on blood pressure. 52 white collar state government employee's blood pressures were measured before and after a 15-min massage at work. Results showed a significant reduction in participants' systolic and diastolic blood pressure after receiving the massage although there was no control group. (Cady, Steven H.; Jones, Gwen E. Massage therapy as a workplace intervention for reduction of stress. Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol 84(1), Feb 1997, 157-158.) http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1997-08007-022

Study #2 assessed the effects of workplace-based massage therapy on 28 participants randomly assigned into either an experimental or control group. The experimental group received weekly massage treatments at work for a four week period while the control group did not. Both strain and blood pressure were significantly reduced during treatment for the experimental group but not for the control group. (A.L. Day, L. Gillan, L. Francis, E.K. Kelloway, M. Natarajan. Massage therapy in the workplace: Reducing employee strain and blood pressure. Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia. Supplemento B, Psicologia 2009; Vol. 31, N. 3: B25-B30 ISSN 1592-7830) http://www.gimle.fsm.it/31/3s_psi/05.pdf

What awesome research that shows proof that a regular onsite massage program can decrease blood pressure. Imagine what that can do for your company's healthcare costs!