Americans most often choose to get a massage for medical reasons, relaxation and stress relief.14

• Thirty-two percent (32%) of adult Americans who received a massage in the past 5 years did so for medical purposes, such as for muscle soreness and spasm, injury recovery and rehabilitation, and pain relief.
• Twenty-six percent (26%) of consumers who had a massage in the past 5 years cited relaxation and stress relief as the main reason for getting a massage.
• Additionally, 26 percent of Americans who received a massage in the past 5 years did so because it was a gift or it was free.

 

Employers and employees recognize the benefits of massage therapy in the workplace.16

• Massage therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing stress and managing/relieving pain.
• Many companies have seen that massage therapy has increased productivity and reduced stress.

 

Research has shown that massage therapy benefits employees in the workplace.18

• A study by the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami found that after five weeks, a group of 26 employees who had twice-weekly, 15-minute massages in the office fared better than a control group of 24 employees who were just told to close their eyes and relax. The massaged group experienced reduced stress and improved performance, while the control group did not.

Top companies offer massage therapy in the workplace.

• Among the companies identified as the “100 Best for Working Mothers,” 77% offered massage therapy to their employees.19

• Eighteen percent (18%) of corporations with more than 500 employees offered massage therapy to their employees versus 11% of companies nationwide of all sizes that were surveyed.20

• Companies offering massage therapy as an employee benefit include Allstate, Best Buy, Cisco Systems, FedEx, Gannett (USA Today), General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, JC Penney, Kimberly-Clark, Texas Instruments and Yahoo!.21

• S.C. Johnson says that more and more managers recognize the benefits of massage for their employees – and the company’s been offering massage therapy as a benefit for more than 10 years.22

 

Massage And Healthcare

Healthcare providers are increasingly promoting the benefits of massage to their patients.

• According to AMTA’s 2005 Consumer Survey, 21 percent of American adults indicated that they discussed massage therapy with their doctor or other healthcare provider, up from 14 percent in 2002.
• Of those people who discussed massage therapy with their healthcare provider, when asked who recommended massage therapy to them, 60 percent of adult Americans said a physician, followed by a physical therapist (50%) and a chiropractor (38%).23
• The majority of massage therapists (70%) indicate they receive referrals from healthcare professionals, averaging two referrals per month.24
• Eighty-two percent (82%) of hospitals offering CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) therapies include massage therapy among their healthcare offerings.25
• Of those hospitals, 70 percent utilize massage therapy for pain management and pain relief.26
• Sixty-eight percent (68%) of American adults would like their health insurance providers to cover massage therapy.27
• Seventy-four percent (74%) of HMO plans cover massage/ relaxation therapy in some way.28 The therapeutic benefits of massage continue to be researched and studied, with several recent clinical studies, sponsored by The
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.29
• Massage therapy for cancer-related fatigue.
• The effect of massage therapy on depression, quality of life and plasma cortisol levels in subjects with advanced HIV disease.
• Massage therapy’s effectiveness in reducing pain and improving quality of life among cancer patients at life’s end.
• Massage therapy’s effectiveness in helping pre-term infants show greater daily weight gain and are discharged earlier from the hospital.
• The effects of in-home, family-administered massage and in-home relaxation training on measures of physical status and healthcare utilization in a sample of African-American adolescents age 15 years and older and adults with chronic pain associated with sickle cell disease.

 

The health benefits of massage therapy have begun to be studied in depth, with recent studies associating massage with substantive improvement of symptoms in cancer patients:30

• Following massage therapy, 50 percent of surveyed cancer patients reported a reduction in symptoms of pain, fatigue, stress, anxiety, nausea, and depression.
• Surprisingly, even patients who reported a high baseline level of symptom severity pre-massage therapy reported significant improvement with massage.
• During the 48-hour follow up period, 100 percent of patients’ symptoms stayed below baseline level.

 

Massage therapy has been shown to be effective in:

• Soothing chronic back pain better than other complementary therapies.31
• Boosting the body’s immune system functioning.32
• Decreasing the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.33
• Reducing anxiety and lowering blood pressure in stroke patients.34
• Easing post-operative pain.35
• Reducing headache frequency.36
• Easing alcohol withdrawal symptoms.37
• Decreasing pain and anxiety in hospitalized cancer patients.38

 

The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) is a non-profit, professional association with more than 54,000 members throughout the United States and in some 27 countries. The association is directed by a volunteer Board of Directors chosen through its national election and encourages members to participate through its 52 chapters. The American Massage Therapy Association provides information about massage therapy to the public. The association also helps consumers and healthcare professionals locate qualified massage therapists nationwide, through AMTA’s Find a Massage Therapist® national locator service. The free national locator service is available via AMTA’s website at www.amtamassage.org and toll-free at 888- 843-2682 [888-THE-AMTA].

 

Citations
14 ibid
15 International Spa Association, 2004 Industry Survey.
16 Ives, Jean. “Massage is in Business.” Massage Therapy Journal. Winter 2004.
17 ibid
18 Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami.
19 Ives, Jean. “Massage is in Business.” Massage Therapy Journal. Winter 2004.
20 ibid
21 ibid
22 ibid
23 AMTA 2005 Consumer Survey.
24 AMTA 2005 Industry Survey.
25 National Survey conducted by the Health Forum/American Hospital Association 2003.
26 ibid
27 AMTA 2005 Consumer Survey.
28 America’s Health Insurance Plans, 2002 AHIP Survey of Health Insurance Plans.
29 The National Institutes of Health, Web site: www.clinicaltrials.gov
30 Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. August 2004.
31 Preyde, M. Effectiveness of Massage Therapy for Subacute Lowback Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial. CMAJ. 162(13):1815- 20; Jn 27, 2000.
32 Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Ironson, G. Massage Therapy Effects on Breast Cancer. (unpublished); 1998.Ironson, G., Field, T., et.al. Massage Therapy is Associated with Enhancement of the Immune System’s Cytotoxic Capacity. Intern. J. Neuroscience. 84:205-217; 1996.Zeitlin, D., et.al. Immunological Effects of Massage Therapy During Academic Stress. Psychosomatic Medicine. 62:83-87; Jan/Feb 2000.
33 Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 2004.
34 Complementary Therapies in Nursing & Midwifery. 2004, Vol. 10, pp. 209-216.
35 Pain Management Nursing. June 2004, Vol. 5, No. 2. pp.59-65.
36 American Journal of Public Health. October 2002.
37 The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. April 2005, Vol. 11, No. 2. pp. 311-313.
38 Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2002, Vol. 34, No. 3.