An exploratory thermographic investigation of the effects of connective tissue massage on autonomic function.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure effects of connective tissue massage (CTM) on the autonomic nervous system using thermography and physiological measurements.

Methods: A repeated-measures design was used. The setting was a university laboratory. Skin temperature at the site of massage, blood pressure, heart rate, and dorsal foot temperature were measured in 8 healthy participants before CTM, immediately after, and at 15-minute intervals for 1 hour.

Results: The effect of CTM on skin temperature was statistically significant, P = .011. Post hoc pairwise comparisons revealed that the 15-, 30-, 45-, and 60-minute data all differed significantly from the pre-CTM data (all P < .05) and also from the immediately post-CTM data (all P < .05). For diastolic blood pressure, the main analysis of variance showed a statistical significance at P = .062. For other variables, there was no evidence for an effect.

Conclusions: Evidence was seen of some effects of CTM on autonomic function. This is information that will increase our knowledge of how CTM affects the autonomic nervous system.