Massage helps reduce post-surgical pain and anxiety: Study

Washington, Dec 18 (UNI) Get rid of post-surgical pain and anxiety with a 20-minute massage, according to a study.

In the study, conducted by professor of surgery and a member of the palliative care team at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Michigan, Dr Daniel B Hinshaw, it was found that patients experience short-term declines in anxiety following massage.

''In patients getting massage, the acute response was equivalent to a dose of morphine, which was pretty remarkable,'' Dr Hinshaw noted.

It's normal for a patient to have peak pain in the first day, which then declines. However, the rate of decline was faster by about a day for patients getting massage, the author added.

But the research did not find any differences in longer-term patient anxiety, length of hospital stay or the amount of pain-relieving medication,the US News and World report apprised.

Reiterating the positive effects of massage, a clinical nurse specialist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Susanne Cutshall, said, ''It may make the pain a little better, patients might sleep better, they might be less anxious.'' To most people, it helps, she added.

UNI