OBJECTIVES After many years out of the limelight, massage therapy is now experiencing a revival. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate its potential for harm. METHODS Computerized literature searches were carried out in four databases. All articles reporting adverse effects of any type of massage therapy were retrieved. Adverse effects relating to massage oil or ice were excluded. ...

Twenty-eight adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were provided either massage therapy or relaxation therapy for 10 consecutive school days. The massage therapy group, but not the relaxation therapy group, rated themselves as happier and observers rated them as fidgeting less following the sessions. After the 2-week period, their teachers reported more time on task and assi...

Forty-eight children (M age = 4.8 years) infected with HIV/AIDS and living in the Dominican Republic were randomly assigned to a massage therapy or a play session control group. The children in the massage therapy group received two weekly 20-min massages for 12 weeks; the children in the control group participated in a play session (coloring, playing with blocks) for the same duration and leng...

Preterm infants residing in an NICU were randomly assigned to a massage therapy or to a control group. The preterm infants in the massage therapy group received three 15-min massages each day for 5 consecutive days, with the massages consisting of moderate pressure stroking to the head, shoulders, back, arms and legs and kinesthetic exercises consisting of flexion and extension of the limbs. In...

BACKGROUND The diverse field of massage therapy has lacked a formal body of knowledge to serve as a practice and educational foundation and to guide future development. This deficit has hampered the growth of the profession and its acceptance and recognition by the medical and allied health care community. PURPOSE To provide massage therapists, bodyworkers, physicians, educators, and associat...

BACKGROUND Pain is a common experience for women during labor. Therefore, pain relief care for mothers during labor is very important. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of massage therapy on labor pain reduction in primiparous women. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this meta-analysis, the databases of Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Iranmedex, Scientific Informati...

objectives: diabetes mellitus (dm) is the most common endocrine disease in children. massage therapy can improve glucose metabolism in dm. this study was conducted to determine the effect of swedish massage on the glycohemoglobin (hba1c) in children with dm. methods: this study was an semi-experimental (clinical trial) conducted on thirty-six children, 6-12 years old with (dm), recruited from a...

BACKGROUND Infantile colic, cry-fuss and sleep problems are transient in the initial months of life, but they contribute to maternal depression, parenting stress and family mental health problems. In this randomized clinical trial, we aimed to explore the efficacy of massage therapy compared to rocking in reducing infantile colic symptoms including duration and number of cries, sleep duration a...

In many ways, massage therapy (MT) research is still in its early stages. By the early 1990s, only a handful of researchers had conducted well-designed MT research studies. Some of these went unpublished (for example: Levin SR. Acute effects of massage on the stress response. Master's thesis, probably because there were fewer places to publish MT research then, but a few other studies concerned...