Overview of Massage Therapy Research 

Public Interest in and Use of Massage Continues to Increase

· The cost of healthcare in the United States is estimated to reach $2.2 trillion by 2008 from 1.6 trillion in 1998. 1

· Consumers spend between $4 and $6 billion annually on visits to massage therapists - approximately 27% of the $21.2 billion spent on unconventional healthcare in 1997.2

· Consumers visit massage therapists 114 million times each year.2

- About 18% of the 629 million annual visits to alternative healthcare providers.2

· There are numerous indications that massage therapy is gaining acceptance and growing.

- Of the types of alternative care explored, people say they would be most likely to use massage therapy (80%), vitamin therapy (80%), herbal therapy (75%), and chiropractic (73%).3

- 54% of primary care physicians and family practitioners say they would encourage their patients to pursue massage therapy as a complement to medical treatment.4

- HMO members using complementary and alternative medicine services rate their satisfaction with HMO-defined acupuncture, naturopathic, and massage benefits as high.5

- 78 of this country's 125 medical schools - including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins - now offer courses in alternative medicine ... up from 27 in 1995.6

- A total of 27% of the adult U.S. population reports having massages in the past 5 years, 15% in the past 12 months.7

- Massage has become increasingly popular among consumers over 45, being used by about a third of this age group versus a quarter of those younger. Massage is also popular among consumers 25 to 34.8

- Those who seek massage therapy from a trained professional average 7 visits per year.3

- Many companies (e.g. G.E., Goldman Sachs, Young & Rubicam, Motorola, and American Airlines) are inviting massage therapists on-site as an employment perk and as a means of reducing stress and absenteeism.8

- Among organization benefits managers, 8% report that massage is an employee benefit.9 

- The number of massage therapists is between 160,000 and 220,000, including students.10

- American Massage Therapy Association's membership increased more than fourfold in the 1990s to over 41,000 members.11

Massage Therapy: Massage Has Become Mainstream
· American adults are having many more massages than they did even a year ago, pointing to a trend that therapeutic massage is increasingly accepted and appreciated.7
· Consumers visit massage therapists 114 million times each year.2
· Massage is sought out by large numbers of people in all age brackets.7
- 18-24 (22%) - 45-54 (22%) 
- 25-34 (31%) - 55-64 (19%) 
- 35-44 (25%) - Over 65 (9%) 

· Massage is equally popular among men and women in all regions of the country and across most incomes.7
· Massage is popular among people with some college education (31%) and people with only a high school education (16%), but more popular among college graduates (35%).7
· People earning more than $50,000 are having massages most often (34%).7
· The massage explosion can be attributed partly to the growing population of tired, aging, not-quite-as-limber-as-they-once-were baby boomers, partly to an increased awareness of the effects of stress and of the physiological benefits of "pressing the flesh."9
· More working-class professionals are using massage therapy to relieve stress and treat sore muscles. Massage therapists that once served only elite professionals or athletes see a wider range of clientele.9
· Doctors are prescribing massage to help patients manage stress and pain.12
· Among emergency room patients, 31% report that they have used massage in the past for painful conditions.13

Sports Massage Boosts Athletic Performance
· Many athletes are extolling the benefits of massage.14
· More sports teams have begun to hire massage therapists.15
· Many prominent professional athletes rely on massage to help them recover from injuries and muscle soreness.16

Massage Therapy: On-site Massage Offered in the Workplace
· The Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami (TRI) has documented the positive effects of massage therapy on job performance and stress reduction. The research indicates that a basic 15-minute chair massage, provided twice weekly, results in decreased job stress and significant increase in productivity.17
· A growing number of businesses and organizations offer massage in the workplace, including the U.S. Department of Justice.18
· At Boeing and Reebok, headaches, back strain, and fatigue have all fallen since the companies started bringing in massage therapists.12
· More than 80 companies, including many Fortune 500 companies, are using massage therapy to counter such ills as musculoskeletal problems, stress and poor ergonomic design of furniture.19
· By including 15 minutes of free massage therapy once each week, the Calvert Group, an investment firm in Bethesda, MD, reduced its turnover rate to 5% in an industry where the norm is 20%.20

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM):Public Interest in and Use of CAM Continues to Increase
· Studies show that patients make more visits each year to alternative care practitioners (629 million times per year2) than to primary care physicians (386 million2), and most of them pay out of their own pockets for the care they receive.21
· More than four in ten adults in the United States (42%) have used some type of alternative healthcare in the past year and many report a likelihood of future usage. Nearly one-half of adults in the United States (45%) say they would be willing to pay more each month to have access to alternative care, and most people (67%) believe the availability of alternative care is an important factor when choosing a health plan.3
· A survey by the Office of Alternative Medicine found that over half of the conventional physicians in the United States have recommended or tried alternative medicine.22
· Studies show that better-educated, affluent individuals seek out and use alternative medicine more than the less-educated and poor.1

Medical professionals are becoming more knowledgeable about the efficacy and benefits of massage and are commonly integrating the services of massage therapists into patient care. Health insurance companies, realizing the cost savings of massage, may cover sessions with a massage therapist when they are a prescribed aspect of treatment. According to a survey of physicians, nurses and physicians assistants in Washington State (November 2000 to February 2001) by Group Health Cooperative, 74 percent of these medical professionals perceived the results of patient use of massage as always or usually effective for the purpose it was prescribed. **
In the 2000 consumer survey by ORC, of the 14 percent of adults who spoke to their doctors about massage therapy, 71 percent reported that the conversation was favorable about massage and 20 percent reported the conversation was neutral. Among those 65+ years old who spoke with their doctors about massage, 84 percent said the conversation was positive. * 

* From July 20, 2000 survey commissioned by AMTA 
**Weeks, J. The Integrator for the Bus. Of Alt. Med., April 2001 
 

What Conditions May be Helped by Therapeutic Massage?

An increasing number of research studies show massage reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, relaxes muscles, improves range of motion, and increases endorphins (enhancing medical treatment). Although therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, it can stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for the lack of exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury. It also can hasten and lead to a more complete recovery from exercise or injury.
People with the following conditions have reported that therapeutic massage has lessened or relieved many of their symptoms. 
· Arthritis 1 
· Asthma 2 
· Carpal tunnel syndrome 3 
· Chronic and acute pain 4 
· Circulatory problems 5 
· Gastrointestinal disorders (including spastic colon, colic and constipation) 
· Headache 7 
· Immune function disorders 8 
· Insomnia 9 
· Myofascial pain 10 
· Premature infants 11 
· Reduced range of motion 12 
· Sports injuries 13 (including pulled or strained muscles and ligaments) 
· Stress 14 
· Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction 15 
Contraindications 
· Certain forms of cancer 
· Phlebitis 
· Some cardiac problems 
· Some skin conditions 
· Infectious diseases 
1 Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Seligman, S., Krasnegor, J., Sunshine, W., Rivas-Chacon, R., & Schanberg, S. Jrnl. Ped. Psychology, 1997. 2 Field, T., Henteleff, T., Hernandez-Reif, M, Marting, E., Mavunda, K., Kuhn, C., & Schanberg, S. Jrnl. of Ped., 1997. 3 Sheon R.P., Postgrad Med., 1997. 4 Weintraub, M. American Journal of Pain Management, 1992. 5 Meek, S.S., J. Nurs. Sch., 1993. 6 Klauser, A.G., et.al. Z. Gastroenterol, 1992. 7 Puustjarvi, K., Airaksinen, O., Pontinen, P.J. Acupunct. Electrother. Res., 1990. 8 Ironson, G., et.al. Intl. Jr. Neurosc., 1996. 9 Richards, KC., Am J Crit Care, 1998. 10 Danneskoild-Samsoe, B., et.al. Scand J Rehab Med., 1982. 11 Scafidi, F.A., Field, T., Schanberg, S.M. J. Dev. Behav. Pediatr., 1993. 12 Crosman, J.L., et.al. Jr. Orthop. & Sports Phys. Th., 1984. 13 Goats, G.C. Br. J. Sports Med., 1994. 14 Field, T., Ironson, G., Scafidi, F., Nawrocki, T., Goncalves, A., Burman, I., Pickens, J., Fox, N., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. Intl. Jrnl. of Neurosc. ,1996. 15 Blood, S.D. Jrnl. of Am. Osteop. Assoc., 1986. 

Here are some reported benefits of massage:  

• Massage was effective in the relief of depression in women who had experienced the recent death of a child, according to preliminary results of a study at the University of South Carolina. 
• Massage improve recovery rates in patients who underwent adbomial surgery in studies funded by the National Institiutes of Health (NIH). 
• Massage prior to an exam provided Medical students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey with a significant decrease in their anxiety levels and respiratory rates. Researchers also found a significant increase in white blood cells and other signs of improved immune system functions.
• Research  results suggested cancer patients had less pain and lowered anxiety levels  after receiving therapeutic massage at the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio. 
• At the University of Miami School of Medicine's Touch Research Institute, researchers have found that massage is helpful in decreasing blood pressure in people with hypertension, alleviating pain in migraine sufferers and improving alertness and performance in office workers.

In a broad range of studies researchers have found:

Massage reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, relaxes muscles, improves range of motion, increases endorphins (reducing pain), and stimulates weak, inactive muscles  thus, partially compensating for the lack of exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury.

What Conditions May be Helped by Therapeutic Massage?

An increasing number of research studies show massage reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, relaxes muscles, improves range of motion, and increases endorphins (enhancing medical treatment). Although therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, it can stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for the lack of exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury. It also can hasten and lead to a more complete recovery from exercise or injury.

People with the following conditions have reported that therapeutic massage has lessened or relieved many of their symptoms.

• Arthritis ¹
• Asthma ²
• Carpal tunnel syndrome ³
• Chronic and acute pain ⁴
• Circulatory problems ⁵
• Gastrointestinal disorders (including spastic colon, colic and constipation)
• Headache ⁷
• Immune function disorders ⁸
• Insomnia ⁹
• Myofascial pain ¹⁰
• Premature infants ¹¹
• Reduced range of motion ¹²
• Sports injuries ¹³ (including pulled or strained muscles and ligaments)
• Stress ¹⁴
• Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction ¹⁵

Contraindications

• Certain forms of cancer
• Phlebitis
• Some cardiac problems
• Some skin conditions
• Infectious diseases