Preterm infants have been noted to benefit from massage therapy. Following massage therapy protocols using moderate pressure preterm infants have gained 31-49% more weight on average. Some studies have also shown length and head circumference growth and bone mineral density increases associated with massage therapy. These studies are reviewed in this paper along with discussion of potential und...

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...

INTRODUCTION Having poor sleep quality is common among patients following cardiopulmonary artery bypass graft surgery. Pain, stress, anxiety and poor sleep quality may be improved by massage therapy. OBJECTIVE This study evaluated whether massage therapy is an effective technique for improving sleep quality in patients following cardiopulmonary artery bypass graft surgery. METHOD Participan...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was the comparative effects on fatigue and sleep of aroma hand massage vs. hand massage among hospice patients in a hospital. Methods: The design of this study was a nonequivalent comparison group pretest-posttest design. This study was performed from May to December 2012 in a hospice ward. A total of 30 hospice patients in a hospice ward participated in the s...

The aim of the present study was to determine if nasal massage of the yingxiang acupuncture point in patients with nasal congestion associated with perennial nasal allergy had any effect on nasal airway resistance (NAR) measured by anterior rhinomanometry and sensation of nasal airflow on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Ten patients were recruited for this study. NAR and VAS were measured before...

BACKGROUND The effect of massage therapy on bone metabolism in adults has only scarcely been explored. In a randomized crossover trial, we investigated the skeletal effect of Thai traditional massage by examining the changes in biochemical markers of bone turnover. METHODS Forty-eight postmenopausal women participated in the study. All volunteers were randomized to a 2-hour session of Thai tr...

Objective: Cancer treatment is reported to be stressful, and patients diagnosed with hematologic cancers often exhibit higher levels of anxiety and emotional distress than individuals with other malignancies. Management of these symptoms in patients with hematologic cancer presents significant challenges, as many of them are in and out of the hospital while undergoing high dose chemotherapy. On...

This paper presents the scientific study of the effectiveness and action principle of head meridian acupoint massage by applying the grey data model analysis approach. First, the head massage procedure for massaging the important head meridian acupuncture points including Taiyang, Fengfu, Tianzhu, Fengqi, and Jianjing is formulated in a standard manner. Second, the status of the autonomic nervo...

Prematurity and poor weight gaining are important causes for neonatal hospitalization. The present study aimed to investigate the role of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil via massage therapy as a supplementary nutritional method on the weight gain of Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU)-hospitalized neonates. This randomized clinical trial performed among 121 stable premature neonates hospit...

Temperature was assessed in 72 preterm infants randomly assigned to a control or a massage therapy group. A greater increase in temperature was noted for preterm infants receiving massage therapy versus a control group, even though the incubator portholes remained open during the 15 min massage therapy session but not for the control group over an equivalent time period.