Field Tiffany (ed.) Massage Therapy Research

Churchill Livingstone, 2006. — 282 p. — ISBN: 978-0-443-10201-1Written by the Director of the world-renowned Touch Research Institutes, this book examines the practical applications of important massage therapy research findings. Each chapter of this comprehensive resource provides a clear and authoritative review of what is reliably known about the effects of touch for a variety of clinical conditions such as depression, pain management, movement problems, and functioning of the immune system. Coverage also includes the benefits of massage to specific populations such as pregnant women, neonates, infants, and adolescents. This book is suitable for massage therapists (including Shiatsu practitioners), aromatherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, physical therapists, and nurses.Massage Therapy Research Methods
Reducing Prematurity
Pregnant women benefit from massage therapy
Massage therapy effects on depressed pregnant women
Fetal activity following stimulation of the mother’s abdomen, feet and hands
Enhancing Growth and Development
Stable preterm infants gain more weight and sleep less after five days of massage therapy
Vagal activity, gastric motility and weight gain in massaged preterm neonates
Massage therapy by parents improves early growth and development
Sleep problems in infants decrease following massage therapy
Increasing Attentiveness
Massage enhances congnitive performance in normal infants
Preschooler’s cognitive performance improves following massage
Autism symptoms decrease following massage therapy
Massage therapy improves mood and behaviour of students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Massage therapy of moderate and light pressure and vibrator effects on EEG and heart rate
Aromatherapy positively affects mood, EEG patterns of alertness and math computations
Decreasing Depression and Aggression
EEG during lavender and rosemary exposure in infants of depressed and non-depressed mothers
Massage and music therapies attenuate frontal EEG asymmetry in depressed adolescents
Aggressive adolescents benefit from massage therapy
Improving Neuromuscular Function
Massage therapy and relaxation effects on university dance students
Spinal cord patients benefit from massage therapy
Cerebral palsy in children decreased after massage therapy
Children with Down Syndrome improved in motor function and muscle tone following massage therapy
Parkinson’s symptoms are reduced by massage therapy
Movement Studies
Creative movement therapy benefits children with autism
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: benefits from Tai Chi
Movement and massage therapy reduce fibromyalgia pain
Senior citizens benefit from movement therapy
Pain Reduction
Children’s distress during burn treatment is reduced by massage therapy
Lower back pain is reduced and range of motion increased after massage therapy
Fibromyalgia pain and substance P decrease and sleep improves after massage therapy
Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms are lessened following massage therapy
Enhancing Immune Function
HIV adolescents show improved immune function following massage therapy
Leukaemia immune changes following massage therapy
Breast cancer patients have improved immune and neoroendocrine functions following massage therapy
Natural killer cells and lymphocytes are increased in women with breast cancer following massage therapy