Tiffany M. Field is professor of pediatrics at University of Miami who has been studying the benefits of touch and massage for more than 40 years. Her daughter was born prematurely and massage helped the tiny baby thrive in the neonatal care unit. This led professor Field to design a study which showed that if done regularly, infant massage can help premature babies gain weight faster and leave the hospital earlier.
Since then she has founded the Touch Research Institute at the Miller School of Medicine, and has studied the benefits of massage, yoga, and tai chi for a range of conditions.
So what are the benefits of touch according to professor Field:
Touch reduces feelings of depression
Over the years the researchers have found that no matter the condition massage invariably brings on a mood change and makes people happier. Massage therapy helps increase levels of serotonin in the body – a neurotransmitter that improves our mood. This leads to decrease stress hormones.
Touch has positive effect on the immune function
Because we feel happier after a massage, the levels of the stress hormone cortisol drop. That saves the natural killer cells of our immune system which kill bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. “Starting out with happiness there is a long chain of biochemical, physiological and bioelectrical effects”, explains professor Field.
Touch enhanced sleep which can reduce pain
“If you receive a massage it will make you happy and you will sleep better”, says Tiffany M. Field. If you don’t get enough deep sleep, a hormone called Substance P is released which causes pain. It is a vicious circle – when you have more pain your sleep is in it’s turn affected.
Improves cognitive function
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are more attentive following a massage. And adults who are given a brief chair massage perform better on math computations. When the skin is moved and pressure receptors are stimulated, vagal activity is increased, and the heart rate is slowed. This all leads to greater attentiveness, which contributes to those cognitive benefits.
If you want to hear Professor Field talk about all these things you can see her interview Massage Works Because It Changes Your Whole Physiology.
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