Did you know that massage therapy can improve night-time sleep, case even when health challenges contribute to sleep disturbance? According to a study undertaken at the University of Arkansas, massage promoted good sleep in critically ill patients.* Similarly, a study conducted at the University of Miami Medical school found that, in children hospitalized with anxiety issues, children that received a 30-minute massage treatment for five days “were sleeping better than the children in the control group and that their night-time sleep had increased over the 5 day period.” **
Restful sleep can elude even the healthiest among us, but massage offers an effective and pleasant method to restore good sleep, meanwhile imparting other health benefits like improved circulation, better immune system function, deeper breathing, improved weight balance, reduced stress hormones, pain relief, release of toxins, and increased sense of well-being.
Good sleep is one of those key health foundations that affects us on all levels, so if this one is eluding you, it may make sense to try this gentle way to ease the pathway to sleep. Many times I have heard a patient exclaim, when returning for a follow up session, “After my last massage I slept better than I had in years!”
*Am J Crit Care 1998 Jul;7(4):288-99 Richards KC. University of Arkansas College of Nursing, Little Rock, USA.
**(Field T; Morrow C; Valdeon C; Larson S; Kuhn C; Schanberg S. Massage reduces anxiety in child and adolescent psychiatric patients. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry (UNITED STATES) Jan 1992, 31 (1) p125-31)
