EVIDENCE INFORMED EDUCATION

EVIDENCE INFORMED EDUCATION

How much pressure decreases SNS? by Jenn Stuart, Executive Director

CCMH is dedicated to evidence informed education by using current massage therapy research to update our curriculum every 5 years. One of the trusted sources of research studies was (and still is) the Touch Research Institute (TRI) which was established 20 years ago by Dr. Tiffany Field, to study the effects of touch on health. Up until 2018, TRI conducted over 100 studies on the positive effects of massage therapy on many functions and medical conditions in many different age groups. Their studies have shown that massage therapy: facilitates weight gain in preterm infants; alleviates depressive symptoms; enhances attentiveness; reduces pain; reduces stress hormones; and improves immune function. One study, published in the International Journal of Neuroscience (another trusted source), looked at the effects of LIGHT PRESSURE verses MODERATE PRESSURE on the AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. It showed a significant increase in parasympathetic activity in a population of patients who received moderate pressure versus light pressure massage.

I guess this could be considered a "Goldilocks Principle" where too little or too much does not achieve the desired affect. The pressure needs to be just right. This would translate into practice for us as making sure when you want to elevate a relaxation response and decrease a stress response - often recorded as "decrease SNS" in S.O.A.P. notes - that you are engaging the tissues to a depth that would be described as moderate pressure by both you and the patient. Too light and it might irritate the patient; too deep and it might stress the patient. This mirrors the philosophy of CCMH entirely, in that we believe therapists do not have to take their techniques to extremes when it comes to depth of pressure.