Are you excessively tired?

Fatigue and depleted energy could be addressed with weekly Swedish or Thai massages according to researchers at Teeside and Leeds Universities . One in 5 people experience excessive tiredness at any given time, while one in 10 people have chronic fatigue (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2018).

They invited 20 participants with fatigue and/or depleted energy to receive trestments with a massage therapist.  The participants all agreed to commit to a six-week study and complete diaries describing how they felt after their treatments.  The participants were split into two groups and half of them received three 45-minute sweedish massage treatments and then three Thai massages in weeks 4 ot 6.  The treatment order was reversed for the other ten participants.

The results showed that both Swedish and Thai massage relieved symptoms of fatigue or depleted energy by

  • reducing stress
  • promoting relaxation
  • relieving pain
  • improving energy

Swedish massage was more effective than Thai massage in improving sleep, promoting relaxation and de-stressing.  Thai massage was more energising, rejuvenating and motivating and had longer lasting benefits than Swedish massage.

Note: Vitality Therapy offer relaxing massage (which is our term for Swedish Massage) at Barclays in London.

Reference

https://www.bodyworkmovementtherapies.com/article/S1360-8592(17)30238-3/abstract?code=yjbmt-site

 

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