Oct. 22-28 is National Massage Therapy Awareness Week.
Massage really is good medicine! Try it for yourself and spread the word! From the Touch Research Institute:
Field, T. (1998). Massage therapy effects. American Psychological Association, 53, 1270-1281.
REVIEW: Massage therapy is older than recorded time, and rubbing was the primary form of medicine until the pharmaceutical revolution of the 1940’s. Popularized again as part of the alternative medicine movement, massage therapy has recently received empirical support for facilitating growth, reducing pain, increasing alertness, diminishing depression, and enhancing immune function. In this article studies are reviewed that document these effects, and models are proposed for potential underlying mechanisms.