Effect of Massage Therapy in Cortisol Level

University of Chile15 enrolled

Overview

This study evaluates the effect of a single session of Massage Therapy in salivary cortisol level. All participants were assessed on three conditions: Massage session, rest in supine position listening music, and under normal working conditions. The hypothesis of the investigators is that the effect of the massage action in reduction of cortisol is superior to only rest.

Several studies have postulated that one of the physiological markers of the effect of massage therapy is to reduce the level of cortisol, the "stress hormone". However it is not clear whether the effect is due to the manual action on the skin, or only by the relaxation induced rest. Therefore the variation of salivary cortisol in both conditions, and also in everyday working conditions was compared. Cortisol has a circadian cycle, with a maximum value upon awakening, which decreases during the morning; therefore a sample of saliva (in Salivette tube) it was collected in the three experimental conditions at the same hour time in the morning: 8:45(after intervention), and 9:30 and 10.30 (both, before).

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Asymptomatic State

Interventions

Massage TherapyOTHER

It's a Physical Therapy manual procedure, based in Swedish technique, and applied in a standirzed way for all participants (stroke, kneading, pressure).

Rest in supineOTHER

It's only rest, in a clinic stretcher, with warm ambient temperature, and listening relaxing music with headphones.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 60 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Office/administrative workers of Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile. Exclusion Criteria: * Musculoskeletal disease or injury in spine. * Body Mass Index over 35. * Smoking (over three cigars at day) * Depression. * Pregnancy * Corticosteroid treatment. * Skin wound or disease. * Intolerance to the prone position.

Locations (1)

Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile

Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan, Chile

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change of Salivary Cortisol Level

Data (a saliva sample in a Salivette (r) tube) were collected at: immediately before the intervention and placebo procedure, immediately after and later, one hour after. The control condition (normal working condition) was measured at the same hours (8:45 AM, 9.30 AM and 10.30 AM) in the workplace. After collected, were refrigerated.The three conditions (intervention, placebo and office work) were a week apart. Therefore, each participant had nine measurements. Determining the level of cortisol was performed by ELISA method, after all samples were collected.

Time frame: All participants were measured in three different condition, one week apart one each other. In each condition, three measurements were performed, in the morning

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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