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Fifteen minutes is a very short space of time, so I am often asked by potential clients if they will receive any benefits from such a short massage. Well the good news is that you do receive benefits, and its not just me saying that, or the subjective experience of other clients there is scientific evidence too.

• In 1996 Shulman, K.R. & Jones, G.E. in the Journal of Applied   Behavioural Science, looked at the effectiveness of chair massage in reducing anxiety in an organisation. An on-site chair massage therapy program was provided to reduce anxiety levels of 18 employees in a downsizing organization. 15 control group s participated in break therapy. Subjects’ stress levels were measured with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, which was administered twice during pretest, post-test, and delayed post-test to achieve stable measures. The study concluded that significant reductions in anxiety levels were found for the massage group. ¹
• In 1996 Field, Ironson, Pickens et al. in the International Journal of Neuroscience concluded that chair massage therapy offers benefits in not just alleviating the physiological effects of anxiety, but also in improving mental alertness.²
• In 1997 Cady et al. in Perceptual & Motor Skills evaluated the effectiveness of a 15 minute chair massage on reducing stress as indicated by blood pressure. 52 employed participants' blood pressures were measured before and after a 15 minute massage at work. Analysis showed a significant reduction in participants' systolic and diastolic blood pressure after receiving the massage. High Blood pressure is associated with anxiety and stress, this study supports the conclusion that chair massage is relaxing and reduces stress. ³

1. KR Shulman and GE Jones, 1996, The effectiveness of massage therapy intervention on reducing anxiety in the work place, Journal of Applied Behavioural Science (32), p160 – 173
2. Field T; lronson G; Scafjdi F; Nawrocki T; Goncalves A; Burman I; Pickens J; Fox N; Schanberg S; Kuhn C, Sep 1996, Massage Therapy Reduces Anxiety and Enhances EEG Pattern of Alertness and Math Computations, The International Journal of Neuroscience, 86 (3-4) p197-205Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/00207459608986710
3. Cady SH and Jones GE, Feb 1997, Massage therapy as a workplace intervention for reduction of stress, Perceptual & Motor Skills, (1) p157- 158Read More: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9132704

In previous posts in this series I have discussed the nature of pain, and how is evidence for the reflexology can be used for acute pain.  In this article I want to discuss reflexology and chronic pain, as back pain is the most common chronic pain and it effects 8 out of 10 people in their lifetime, I will focus on studies that have looked at chronic lower back pain. An initial pilot study was carried out entitle Reflexology in the management of low back pain: a pilot randomised controlled trial by F Quinn, CM Hughes and GD Baxter.  the results of which was published (see Complement Ther Med. 2008 Feb;16(1):3-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2007.05.001. Epub 2007 Jun 27.)  Participants suffering from non-specific lower back pain were recurited and randomly assigned to a reflexology or sham group.  Each patient received either a 40 minute reflexology treatment or a sham treatment according to which group they were in once per week for 6 consecutive weeks.  The key measure of success was the measurement of pain on the visual analogue scale supplemented by the McGill pain questionnaire,  Roland-Morris disability questionnaire, and SF-36 health survey. Outcome measures were performed at baseline, week 6, week 12 and week 18.  The results incidicated that reflexology may have a positive effect on Lower Back Pain. This initial trail was followed up by a more comprehensive study of times were nurses were the patients, nursing is in the top ten professions for high incidence of lower back pain.  Again this study was a double bind trial, and the same measurements of pain were used as in the trail. The study recruited 50 male and 50 female nurses with chronic lower back pain to take part in the trail.  40 minute sessions of reflexology or sham treatements were performed three times a week for two weeks.  The study concluded Reflexology can be effective in reducing the severity of chronic back pain, i.e. it is able to reduce pain from moderate to mild.  (see The Irainian Journal of Nursing Times (reference Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2012 Mar-Apr; 17(3): 239–243.), focused on back pain in nurses) In conclusion it is clear that while the number and size of the studies are small there is a clear trend which demonstrates the effectiveness of Reflexology in helping to reduce pain levels especially in cases of lower back pain.  Remember I offer a 15 minute taster Reflexology session for anyone who would like to try reflexology.

Many people think that homeopathy is unscientific nonsense - however a new study reports that homeopathy can reverse the skin condition vitiligo, which are the white patches on people's skin. Classical homeopathy which is where individualized remedies are perscribed - has been sucessfully used on 14 vitiligo sufferers say researchers are the Centre for Classical Homeopathy in Bangalore , India.  The remedies reduces the white patches on skin in all 14 patients within an average of 5 years of starting treatment. With classical homeopathy, the remedy will vary and is determined by the characteristics of each individual patient, and so researchers are unable to point to one remedy that could treat the problem. Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition that causes the loss of melanin, the skin pigment.  Conventional medicine treats the condition with light therapy and drugs, which can restore some pigmentation but doesn't treat the underlying condition. Reference https://www.amjcaserep.com/abstract/index/idArt/905340