Hands-On Pain Relief

Massage isn't just for aching muscles anymore. It's shown to help ease pain, anxiety, depression and even ADHD in children.

Saying "ouch" a lot? Schedule a massage. It feels good, of course, but it's also an effective treatment, according to a recent study of 605 people. Those who got a daily 20-minute massage (in addition to medication) after surgery reported less pain a day earlier than those who just got drugs, or who got drugs plus 20 minutes of one-on-one conversation. Other benefits:

It fights the blues. A rubdown cut depression, pain, anxiety, nausea, fatigue and other symptoms in half for cancer patients, according to one study.

It calms kids. In a small study of children with ADHD, those who got a 20-minute massage twice a week for a month behaved better in school.

It soothes an aching head. Chronic tension headache sufferers had fewer episodes after neck and shoulder massages.

From Reader's Digest - April 2008

 

• Arthritis

• 7 Back Pain Breakthroughs
• Are you hurting? Here's help.
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• Beat Nighttime Pain
• 1 out of every 10 of us spend a day in pain during a month -- and 86 percent of us don't sleep because of it. Try these tips to prevent pain from disrupting your sleep.
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• Pain-Free Knees
• How to handle the creaks, aches, and stiffness associated with knee pain.
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