Is there any scientific evidence that massage can assist with pain?

As things are now back to full swing after the summer holiday, and before things get too budy, I wanted to share with you a piece of research that while being 3 years old is still highly relevant.  Researchers were looking at the effectiveness of listening to self-administered hypnosis stress reduction CD's to boost resilience. Eleven subjects took part in the study, all healthy, normally coping and functioning individuals - were provided with a self-administered hypnosis stress reduction CD, to be used for a minimum of 5 days a week over a 12 week period.  The CD contained two different hypnosis tracks, one to be played before sleep (25 minutes in duration) and the other to be played in the morning (lasting 7 minutes). The aim of the CD was to recondition the stress response, by minimising the participants "excessive emotional and physical reaction to perceived work and life stressors, while facilitating their coping skills and resilience."   Chronic stress and anxiety have been associated with inflammatory changes in the body, and high level of inflammation have been lined to a number of acute and chronic conditions.  Blood tests were used to measure the level of inflammatory response and self-reported measures (using the StressScan assesment) were taken pre and post intervention. While the study size is small, it provides some suggestive evidence that a self-administered stress reduction program that is time efficient may be clinically effective for modifying the stress response and boosting resilience. Reference Schoen M and Nowack K (2013)  Reconditioning the stress response with hypnosis CD reduces the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and influences resilience: a pilot study.  Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 2013; 19 83-88 http://www.ctcpjournal.com/article/S1744-3881(12)00088-6/abstract

Following on from part 1 on how to treat unirary tract infections naturally here are more tips. Probiotics In a study of postmenopausal women prone to UTIs, a probiotic supplement containting Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobascillus reuteri RC-14 cut the number of recurrences by around 50% over a yea.  The "good guy" bacteria were almost as effective as antibiotics and they had the advantage of not leading to drug resistant bacteria which may happen with antibiotics.  Probiotics also seem to help prevent UTI when use as vaginal suppositories. Ulva Ursi There is evidence to suggest the herby may reduce the duration of a UTI when one strikes.   The German Federal Institue for Drugs and Medical devices approves the herb for treatment of UTIs.  In one clinical trial, supplements containing standardized extracts of uva ursi as well as dandelion root taken for 1 month effectively prevented UTIs over the following year. Vitamin C Vitamin C may help prevent and treat UTIs by acidifying the urine, creating a hostile environment for infection - causing bacteria.  In a study of preganty women, those given daily supplements including 100mg vitamin C experienced significantly fewer UTIs than women given supplements without vitamin C. Reference https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22782199 https://www.southampton.ac.uk/ctu/news/2018/04/20-atafuti-trial-protocol-publication.page https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011393X05802048?via%3Dihub https://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c199 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17611821

Like most people there are times when I feel anxious.  I appreicate I am luck in that this isn't a permanent state.  Based on anetdotal evidence I am aware that there seems to be a rise in our clients feeling anxious.  So I wanted to share some latest scientfic evidence of what may be able to assist you. Recently researches in Iran conducted a randomised control trail to compare the effectivness of hand reflexology and acupressure for reducing anxiety in patients with coronary artery diseases undergoing procedures in hospital. One hundred and thirty-five women with coronary artery disease were randomly assigned to three groups, receiving hand reflexology, acupressure or a placebo. For the first group, hand reflexology was performed on each hand for 10 minutes.  The acupressure was also performed for 10 minutes on each hand. For the placebo, similar conditions to the intervention groups were created, but a thumb touching method was used without applying acupressure or hand reflexology. The patients were asked to complete a questionnaire to examine the effects of treatments. The results revealed significant changes in anxiety in the hand reflexology and acupressure groups, when compared to the placebo group.   Mean anxiety scores reduced similarly with both treatments, indicating that they were equally effective. So if you have been feeling anxious recently why not try a reflexology treatment or a Seated Acupressure Neck & Shoulder massage.  To book click here. Reference https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6473738/