Massage Therapy Can Improve General Blood Flow

Massage therapy not only alleviates muscle soreness after exercise, but it also improves general blood flow – even for people who don’t work out.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered that massage has benefits for people regardless of how much they exercise, researchers recently discovered. Their study, published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, shows that massage improved vascular function for more than three days, or 72 hours, according to a news release. In fact, people who have poor circulation or limited mobility may benefit the most from massage therapy.

“Our study validates the value of massage in exercise and injury, which has been previously recognized but based on minimal data,” said Nina Cherie Franklin, UIC postdoctoral fellow in physical therapy and first author of the study. “It also suggests the value of massage outside of the context of exercise.”

Researchers examined how much muscle soreness people felt after using a leg press machine. Half of the participants were given a Swedish leg massage after their exercise. Those who received the massage said they were no longer sore 90 minutes later. But those who did not have a massage reported being sore one day later.

Researchers also measured blood flow. They found that those who had massages had improved blood flow for three days. People who didn’t have a massage after the exercise had reduced blood flow after 90 minutes.

“We believe that massage is really changing physiology in a positive way,” Franklin said. “This is not just blood flow speeds – this is actually a vascular response.”

Massage therapy also helped the people in the study who did not exercise.

“The big surprise was the massage-only control group, who showed virtually identical levels of improvement in circulation as the exercise and massage group,” said Shane Phillips, UIC associate professor of physical therapy and principal investigator on the study. “The circulatory response was sustained for a number of days, which suggests that massage may be protective.”

For people who have limited mobility or those with impaired vascular function, further research may show that regular massage offers significant benefits, the author said.

Source: news release University of Illinois at Chicago

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