Massage Therapy
Annotated Bibliography and Critique: Massage Therapy
September 19th, 2012
Introduction
The alternative therapy I chose to research was Massage therapy. The Oxford Dictionary of Psychology defines massage therapy as “manual manipulation of soft tissue to promote physical and mental health and well-being. Forms of massage therapy can be traced back to ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hindu, and Japanese civilizations” (“massage therapy”, 2008). I chose to do this topic for my annotated bibliography because I am interested in learning more about the benefits of massage and to understand ways of healing pain and discomfort through touch and manual manipulation. I believe that massage therapy is not only helpful in the relief of pain and discomfort but also helps in the emotional maintenance of romantic relationships.
Article One
Ho, Y., Lee, R., Chow, C., & Pang, M. (2010). Impact of massage therapy on motor outcomes in very low-birthweight infants: Randomized controlled pilot study. Pediatricsinternational, 52, 378-385.
The purpose of this randomized trial was to “investigate the efficacy of massage therapy on stable preterm VLBW infants in promoting motor development, weight gain, and earlier discharge from the hospital” (Ho et al., 2010, p. 378). Ho et al. suggest that “it is generally accepted that infants at 32 weeks gestational age and beyond may benefit from massage therapy” (Ho et al., 2010, p. 378). This was a randomized controlled intervention pilot trial that studied infants whose gestational age was between 25 and 34 weeks with VLBW. Two types of massage interventions were performed on separate groups of infants for 15 minutes in duration. One intervention being 5 minutes of massage therapy with tactile stimulation in the first and third phases and physical activity phase in the second phase and the other therapy (sham treatment) consisted of gentle still touch producing no indentation in the skin. Each treatment was done an hour
September 19th, 2012
Introduction
The alternative therapy I chose to research was Massage therapy. The Oxford Dictionary of Psychology defines massage therapy as “manual manipulation of soft tissue to promote physical and mental health and well-being. Forms of massage therapy can be traced back to ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hindu, and Japanese civilizations” (“massage therapy”, 2008). I chose to do this topic for my annotated bibliography because I am interested in learning more about the benefits of massage and to understand ways of healing pain and discomfort through touch and manual manipulation. I believe that massage therapy is not only helpful in the relief of pain and discomfort but also helps in the emotional maintenance of romantic relationships.
Article One
Ho, Y., Lee, R., Chow, C., & Pang, M. (2010). Impact of massage therapy on motor outcomes in very low-birthweight infants: Randomized controlled pilot study. Pediatricsinternational, 52, 378-385.
The purpose of this randomized trial was to “investigate the efficacy of massage therapy on stable preterm VLBW infants in promoting motor development, weight gain, and earlier discharge from the hospital” (Ho et al., 2010, p. 378). Ho et al. suggest that “it is generally accepted that infants at 32 weeks gestational age and beyond may benefit from massage therapy” (Ho et al., 2010, p. 378). This was a randomized controlled intervention pilot trial that studied infants whose gestational age was between 25 and 34 weeks with VLBW. Two types of massage interventions were performed on separate groups of infants for 15 minutes in duration. One intervention being 5 minutes of massage therapy with tactile stimulation in the first and third phases and physical activity phase in the second phase and the other therapy (sham treatment) consisted of gentle still touch producing no indentation in the skin. Each treatment was done an hour