2012 Volume 2 Issue 1 Pages 19-22
The present study, involving twelve healthy adult females (at the age of 21.3 ± 0.6 years old), was conducted to examine the effects of massage on peripheral circulatory dynamics, including changes in the volume of the toe and temperature distribution of the skin of the dorsum manus or dorsal hand, which was measured using thermography. The subjects were asked to perform a control (sitting on a chair with a backrest for 15 minutes) and experimental (receiving a 15-minute massage to the shoulder, lower-back, and lower-thigh areas) task. Following the massage, there was a marked decrease in the mean volume of the toe, with -0.83 ± 0.26 ml/100 ml/min (P<0.05). There were increases in the temperature of the skin both after sitting on the chair and receiving the massage, although they were not significant. These results suggest that the massage affected the peripheral circulatory dynamics, including a reduction of edema in the leg and change in the skin temperature.
