Anxiety reduction & massage?

The new year is a natural time for focusing on new goals.  At the end of the festive season we can feel like we have over indulged so want to refocus on health.  I know I certainly feel like that.  So I wanted to share some ideas for health new year's resolutions.

1. Focus on 1 health goal for 2018 as this focus will help you acheive it.
2. Use the stairs more.
3. Go outside for a daily dose of vitamin D.
4. Focus on your breath when you feel the stress coming on. It's a mini meditation session.
5. Turn off all electronics 20 minutes before lights out at bedtime.
6. Write down everything you're grateful for at the end of the day.
7. Drink more water than cafine.
8. Add one thing to your life that brings you joy.
9. Cook at home more frequently.  You’ll end up getting healthier in the process.
10. Forgive someone. Anger and resentment is like holding onto internal poison and can even harm your physical health. Life’s too short to not move on.

My initial response to this question, is off course not.  A placebo is anything that seems to be a "real" medical treatment -- but isn't i.e. it is fake.  The judgement of what is fake is based on the availability of scientific evidence. Traditionally in medical trails patients don't know if they are taking a placebo.  For most of my readers, they would probably refuse to take a placebo, as they know its a placebo, so you would think your wasting your time.  I would agree with this, but was a bit surprised by some recent research. Around half of 97 patients with chronic lower back pain were given a pill bottle with the word "Placebo" printed on it - after they been told that a placebo contains no active ingredient - along with a standard NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) pain killer, while the remainder of the group was just given the NSAID. After taking the pills twice a day for three weeks, the patients taking they placebo plus the NSAID reported a 30% reduction in pain compared with a 9% decrease in those given only the NSAID. So the researches discovered that a placebo may be effective treatment for lower back pain even when people know they are taking a placebo! Reference Carvalho, Cláudia; Caetano et al, 2016, Open-label placebo treatment in chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial, Journal of Pain, December 2016, Vol 157, Issue 2, p 2766 - 2772  

I recently came across a scientific study in slovenia on the impact of a corporate chair massage program.  As you can imagine, as I offer this service I was interested in the results of the study. Ninteen female volunteers who were aged between 40 - 54, were given chair massages on-site at their office twice per week for 1 month.  They were all reporting various levels of aches and pains when they were working at their desks.  The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire was used to track and measure the aches and pains, while a goniometer was used to track and measure range of motion measurements for the neck and spine. The study showed a significant decrease for aches and pains in the neck and upper back.  In addition, it found significant increase in range of movement for cervical lateral flexion of 28.8% (moving your neck so your ear goes towards your shoulder) and cervical extension (moving your head back). This study fits with me and my teams experience that after a Seated Acupressure Neck & Shoulder massages, clients are less tense, feel looser and are able to move their neck & shoulders more freely. Reference Sisko PK, Videmsek M, Karpljuk D, 2011, The effect of a corporate chair massage program on musculoskeletal discomfort and joint range of motion in office workers.  J Altern Complement Med, 17(7):617-22