Touch Therapy Helps Both People

  Massage 
  Originally uploaded by annamatic3000.

Massage therapists and aestheticians are encouraged to offer their clients an oxytocin release along with their treatments in this article from Skin, Inc. This seems to be a very good trade magazine for spa professionals. Writer Irina Brown points out that it's as good for the giver as for the receiver:

The good news is that it is not only the person on the receiving end of “touch therapy” that benefits from oxytocin release. Studies show that the person administering “touch” also experiences heightened levels of oxytocin. Massage therapists exhibit the typical effects of high levels of oxytocin, such as lower levels of stress hormones and lowered blood pressure, according to Kerstin Uvnas Moberg, MD, author of The Oxytocin Factor (Da Cappo Press, 2003).

In fact, I don't believe there are any studies at all showing that a person being massaged has higher oxytocin levels, although it seems intuitively correct. But there are studies showing the masseur or masseuse has higher levels post-massage.

Comments

[Jonathan Sibley]

Hi, great blog.

I just heard Sue Carter speak at the SEPI conference (Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration) and I believe she said that there was evidence of increased oxytocin after a massage, but that it was not specific to the massage (people who just sat in a massage chair also had higher levels of oxytocin, perhaps because they felt more relaxed). Unfortunately, I don't have a reference for any studies about this, though.

[Susan Kuchinskas]

well, that's interesting. Did she say that it might be because they were more relaxed? Because she has also found that voles release more oxytocin when they're stressed. It's all still mysterious, but thanks for the ref.