Getting regular massages may not only help you relax but also make you stronger and heal quicker, a study on rodents has suggested.
To test their benefit, Harvard University researchers used tiny robotic machines to knead the leg muscles of a group of injured mice for 14 days in a row.
They were compared to a control group who were not massaged.
While both sets of mice had started to heal over the fortnight, the healing was more advanced in the massaged group of mice.
Additionally, the study found that the greater the massaging force applied during treatment, the stronger the injured muscles became.
Scientists involved in the study now plan to trial similar devices on larger animals and eventually people.
Study lead author Bo Ri Seo, a biologist at Harvard, said while the health benefits of massaging muscles have long been theorised, this research clearly demonstrated the connection.
A new study has shown that regular massages could help muscles heal faster and stronger
The massages’ healing power in the mice appeared to be related to ‘squeezing’ proteins that were causing inflammation in the muscle.
Student Stephanie McNamara, who was involved in the study, said while these proteins had an important role in protecting the injured muscle, they could actually inhibit healing by lingering too long.
‘While the inflammatory response is important for regeneration in the initial stages of healing, it is equally important that inflammation is quickly resolved to enable the regenerative processes to run its full course,’ she said.
‘Our work shows a very clear connection between mechanical stimulation and immune function,’ she said
She also highlighted how the research could one day be the basis of creating similar massage technology to keep people’s muscles healthy in old age.
‘This has promise for regenerating a wide variety of tissues including bone, tendon, hair, and skin, and can also be used in patients with diseases that prevent the use of drug-based interventions.’
They hope to continue the research in larger animals, with the goal of being able to test the efficacy of this kind of treatment approach on humans.
They also hope to test it on different types of injuries, age-related muscle loss, and muscle performance enhancement.
The research is published in Science Translational Medicine.
Study finds couples who regularly massage one another are less stressed and more satisfied
Couples wanting to improve their relationship should give each other a massage, a psychological study suggested in 2017.
While most of us enjoy the feeling of a partner kneading our tired muscles, the researchers found it was almost as good for the one doing the kneading.
Researchers found that couples who spent just 15 minutes giving a partner a massage two or three times a week experienced significant improvements in well-being, stress and relationship satisfaction.
Those who give a massage felt 9 per cent better overall, compared to 12 per cent for those who received the massage.
Sayuri Naruse, a visiting researcher at the University of Northumbria and Dr Mark Moss, a psychology professor, conducted the study on 38 couples.
They self-assessed factors such as their mental clarity, mood, pain, emotional stress, physical uptightness and irritability.
The research was presented at the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference in Brighton in 2017.
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