Massage Actually Impairs Blood Flow To The Muscle After Exercise

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Massage Actually Impairs Blood Flow To The Muscle After Exercise

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149309.php

A Queen's University research team has blown open the myth that massage after

exercise improves circulation to the muscle and assists in the removal of lactic

acid and other waste products.

" This dispels a common belief in the general public about the way in which

massage is beneficial, " says Kinesiology and Health Studies professor

Tschakovsky. " It also dispels that belief among people in the physical therapy

profession. All the physical therapy professionals that I have talked to, when

asked what massage does, answer that it improves muscle blood flow and helps get

rid of lactic acid. Ours is the first study to challenge this and rigorously

test its validity. "

The belief that massage aids in the removal of lactic acid from muscle tissue is

so pervasive it is even listed on the Canadian Sports Massage Therapists website

as one of the benefits of massage, despite there being absolutely no scientific

research to back this up.

Kinesiology MSc candidate Vicky Wiltshire and Dr. Tschakovsky set out to

discover if this untested hypothesis was true, and their results show that

massage actually impairs blood flow to the muscle after exercise, and that it

therefore also impairs the removal of lactic acid from muscle after exercise.

This study will be presented at the annual American College of Sports Medicine

conference in Seattle, Washington May 27-30, 2009