Is Thai Massage Beneficial for Increasing Bone Density in Post Menopausal Women? YES!
A Study Measuring The Effects of Thai Massage and It’s Effects on the Collagen/Bone Formation Marker P1NP!!
I was scrolling the internet and reading research articles about massage and this beauty popped up to my surprise, “Thai traditional massage increases biochemical markers of bone formation in postmenopausal women: a randomized crossover trial”
The study topic was Thai massage and the effects of serum markers for bone formation. This is a study from 2013, so it is a little older, the sample size was small, and there are some other variables you can read about at the end of the research paper if you are interested.
I love science, my degree is in Medical Laboratory Science, we can get super into it and go to down the rabbit hole (Just leave a comment below) but to keep things flowing and readable I’ll try to keep it short and awesomely informative, and exciting!
The focus of this study was on the increase of serum P1NP following a Thai Massage. P1NP is Procollagen I Intact N-Terminal, S. This is a serum marker which can be used to measure treatment and progression of osteoporosis. There was a clinically significant increase in this marker in study participants following a two hour massage.
Why I love this research article:
The study group is postmenopausal women! Yes! We need more research and support for women’s health, especially postmenopausal women.
A study in the effects of Thai massage! No brainer there!!!! This is the type of bodywork I practice and when there is a research paper intersecting two of my biggest interests and things which bring me joy (Thai massage and Science). It is like a mini explosion of dopamine hitting my brain! So exciting!!
The Thai Massage sessions were two hours. That’s right people! Two hours! I sometimes feel super niche and like an outlier amongst my colleagues as I offer massage sessions that are usually much longer. I feel validated after reading this research article.
The study is theorizing the unique application of hell hand pressure on tissue (which lays over bone) is what stimulates the increase in P1NP.
There is a portion of the research detailing the sequence of massage and technique, love it! The sequence does not seem to be important, but rather the heel of the hand pressure throughout the 2 hour massage. Please check out the study the link is below. As with all research article reading, critical thinking is important. If you have any thoughts please let me know!
