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Writer's pictureLolly Als

Massage and Immunity

Updated: Mar 21, 2021

A blog written for Natural Balance.


Autumn brings with it such beauty – nature’s colours are quite spectacular at this time of year. However, with this comes the season of colds and coughs. I’ve been trying to stay as healthy as possible by eating well and getting a good dose of exercise, but I'm always looking for additional ways to help protect myself. It was with great interest that I heard about one of the recent episodes of “Trust me, I’m a Doctor”, which included a segment on the potential immune benefits of massage.


They conducted an in-house study where one healthy group of participants were put through two conditions: 1) resting on a massage couch for an hour and 2) receiving a one-hour full body massage. They took blood at baseline, immediately following the one-hour of rest, and immediately following the one-hour treatment. They were particularly interested in the participants white blood cell (WBC) count. WBCs are a vital part of the immune system and help to fight off infections. They found that after the massage, there was a 70% increase in the participants WBC count (in comparison to the baseline measure). This was not replicated in the “at rest” condition, indicating it was the act of receiving a massage as opposed to lying and relaxing for an hour that was key. There was discussion as to whether there was really any benefit in increasing WBC count in healthy individuals, with the consensus being, there probably wasn’t. However, for people that have autoimmune conditions or those feeling “run down”, there may well be some use in booking in for a treatment.


I found this all really interesting, but the inner academic (I used to work as a research psychologist) wanted to know more about the background research that inspired this in-house study. Anyway, I decided to do a quick check on PubMed, one of the key academic search engines, and I was intrigued to see there had been a number of studies looking at this. My review of the literature was by no means exhaustive, but the gist of it was that receiving massage did seem to result in immune improvement and some studies found that there was something specific and unique in using touch (as opposed to a tool). This is really refreshing to see, as we often speak to our clients about the wide-ranging benefits of massage, but at times it is hard to back this up with robust evidence, as it is a difficult practice to study under experimental conditions.


So, if you’re feeling a bit run down or suffer with a condition that negatively affects your immune function, a massage may be helpful. Of course, if your body has already succumbed to the cold or flu and you are feeling unwell, it’s best to wait until you recover before you pop in for a treatment!


Check out the episode here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bmfpg2/trust-me-im-a-doctor-series-8-episode-5

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