Hypertension – Can massage help?

I can't begin to imagine how worried, anxious & may be inadequate I would feel if I had a premature baby.  I would imagine there is a really strong instinct & desire to the hold the baby which is more difficult if it needs to be in an incubator. A recent study has looked at the impact on the mother’s health of massaging premature babies.  Fifty-two mothers with babies born at 30 - 38 weeks were randomly assigned ot an intervention or control group.  Mothers in the experimental group were asked to massage their babies daily alongside standard medical care, while those in the control group only had standard medical care. Mothers in the experimental group were given an information pamphlet, training video and researches conducted a massage training session.  They were then asked to perform a massage on their babies for 15 minutes each day for 5 days. Mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire rating changes in 65 "mood factors" including anxiety, depression and fatigue, on a five-point scale.  Mood scores were consistent across both groups at the beginning of the study but there were significant differences by the end. Mothers who massaged their babies had a better mood than those who didn't.  They also experienced less anxiety, depression & fatigue. Reading this did make me wonder the impact of massaging babies would have on the mood of mums whose babies weren't premature. Reference https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1556370717300937    

The standard theory of heart disease states that fatty foods cause the arteries to "clog up" and narrow, which is a major feature of cardiovascular disease.  Researchers have discovered that a lack of sleep seem to have more to do with hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) than a fatty diet. Not getting enough sleep on a regular basis can cause a buildup of plaque in the arteries, which causes them to stiffen and eventually close. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital now think that hardening of arteries has more to do with a "neuro-immune axis" linking sleep to the cardiovascular system.  Sleep helps regulate the production of inflammatory cells and maintain healthy blood vessels, and so it would follow that lack of sleep has the reverse effect. The researchers demonstrated the effect on a group of laboratory mice.  Although the cholesteral levels of sleep deprived ice remained the same, they developed larger arterial plaques and had double the number of inflammatory cells known to contribute to hardening of arteries. Reference Tall AR, Jelic S. How broken sleep promotes cardiovascular disease. Nature. 2019 Feb;566(7744):329-330

Chair sitting is unique in that Gluteus maximi are totally relaxed at the same time as having an upright torso, and they are therefore not able to contribute to lumbar extension and back stabilization as they usually do. Without the help of the Gluteal muscles, the Erector Spinae muscles above become tired and painful in a very short time, and give up fighting to maintain the correct "hollow" in the lumbar spine. The diagram on the left indicates what happens to three key muscles when you spend long periods of time sitting. The Hamstrings (H) are shortened by sitting.  Also, during sitting, the Gluteus Maximus (GM) is relaxed and unable to tension the lumbosacral fascia.  This means the Errector Spinae (ES) muscle group must therefore perform the entire lumber extension workload. This article discusses the link between lower back pain and the following muscle problems:-

1. Shortening of the hamstring muscle.
2. Overworking of the Erector Spinae muscle group and the development of trigger points.
3. Overworking of the Iliopsoas muscle group and the development of trigger points.

• Diffuse achy - type pain radiating out from the groin area to the lower back, and possibly around to the side of the hip and the butt area. If the trigger points in the groin are not pressed, the pain is not sharp or stabbing.
• Relief of pain is often experienced by sitting down.
• Worse upon lengthening the iliopsoas, i.e. when one stands up, or straightens the hip joint.
• Worse for doing situps.
• Worsened by externally rotating the hip (i.e. making the knee cap look outward) when the hip joint is fully extended.
• In patients with sciatic nerve pain, lying flat on one's back with the legs out straight causes the trigger point tightened iliopsoas to compress the lumbar vertebrae together, with the result that the nerve roots of the sciatic nerve are compressed too.
• When lying flat on one's back, doing a straight leg raise reveals weakness on the affected side.
• In patients with sciatic nerve pain due to nerve root compression, lying flat on one's back with legs out straight stretches that trigger point tightened iliopsoas. The result is that the iliopsoas compresses the lumbar vertebrae together, and the the nerve roots of the sciatic nerve are compressed at the same time.