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R
E S E A R C H
Massage
Improves Sleep, Decreases Pain and Substance P in Fibromyalgia Patients
After receiving
massage twice weekly for five weeks, fibromyalgia patients experienced
improved mood and sleep, and their levels of substance P, a neurotransmitter
in the pain fiber system, decreased, along with the number of tender
spots throughout their bodies, according to recent research.
The study, "Fibromyalgia Pain
and Substance P Decrease and Sleep Improves After Massage Therapy,"
was conducted by Tiffany Field, Ph.D., Miguel Diego, Christy Cullen,
Maria Hernandez-Reif, Ph.D., William Sunshine and Steven Douglas
of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami.
According to the American College of
Rheumatology, fibromyalgia is defined as "widespread chronic
musculoskeletal pain of unknown cause and multiple tender points."
Levels of substance P are significantly higher in people with fibromyalgia.
Twenty-four adults with this condition were randomly assigned to
either a massage-therapy or relaxation group.
Subjects in the massage group received
30-minute massages twice a week for five weeks. The sessions combined
several types of bodywork, such as Swedish massage, shiatsu and
Trager® work. The routine consisted of moderate pressure and
stroking of the head, neck, shoulders, back, arms, hands, legs and
feet.
Participants in the relaxation-therapy
group met for a half-hour twice weekly for five weeks and were given
instructions on progressive muscle relaxation while lying quietly
on the massage table.
The State Trait Anxiety Inventory was
used before and after sessions on the first and last days of the
study to measure how subjects felt at that time.
Both the massage and the relaxation
group showed a decrease in anxiety and depressed mood immediately
after sessions on the first and last days of this study.
More long-term effects were also evaluated.
The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale was used
to measure depressive symptoms. Subjects wore a motion recorder
at night to record activity during sleep and kept a log of the time
they went to bed and awoke. A physician assessed participants' illness,
medication use, tender points and pain; and saliva samples were
taken before the first and last sessions to measure levels of substance
P.
The results revealed that, over the
course of the study, the massage group, as compared with the relaxation
group, experienced decreased depression; improved sleep; decreased
pain, fatigue and stiffness; improved physician assessments; decreased
tender points; and a reduced level of substance P.
According to the study's authors, these
findings "highlight the clinical significance of using massage
therapy as a complementary treatment."
- Source: Touch Research
Institute. Authors: Tiffany Field, Ph.D., Miguel Diego, Christy
Cullen, Maria Hernandez-Reif, Ph.D., William Sunshine and Steven
Douglas. Originally published in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology,
April 2002, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 72-76.
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