Self massage for high blood pressure

What type of massage will lower blood pressure

There were a wide range massages used in these trials. These are shown in the table below, but lets look at what they found.

Soothing or deep massage

Several trials used stroking massages, Swedish massages or “remedial massage” with excellent effects. On the other hand a trial of 263 patients each receiving 45-60min of deep massage and this produced a blood pressure of 10.4/5.3 and a heart rate reduction of 10 per minute. Therefore, both "normal" and deep massage worked. The only anomaly was a trial that measure blood pressure immediately after deep sports massage and trigger point therapy and got a slight increase. This was attributed to the pain

Regular of once off

One trial used single 45-60 minute massages and these were shown to reduce blood pressure shortly afterwards. However, most trials used regular short duration (eg.10-20 min) sessions ranging from twice a week to daily. It is most important that the reduction in blood pressure be continuous, not just shortly after the massage. In trial four (below) patients were given 10 massages at three per week. The blood pressure was still reduced 72 hours after the last massage.

Your self massage alternatives

Type of massage

The successful massages all had these in common.
• They loosened tight muscles
• They stimulated blood
• They worked on tight spots in muscles

Frequency of massages

Trial four demonstrated the lasting effects 72 hours after, so following their guidelines of three 15 minute massages a week would be an excellent start. Lets look at your options.

Other self massage and trigger point therapy articles

If you found this useful please check out our other self massage and trigger point therapy articles.

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• Massage And Trigger Point Therapy For Low Back Pain, With Self Help Options
• Massage And Trigger Point Therapy For Calf Pain, With Self Help Options
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• Self Massage And Trigger Point Therapy For Tennis Elbow
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• Self Massage For Anxiety

References

1. Kaye, A. D. et al. (2008) ‘The effect of deep-tissue massage therapy on blood pressure and heart rate’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 14(2), pp. 125–128. doi: 10.1089/acm.2007.0665.
2. Cambron, J. A., Dexheimer, J. and Coe, P. (2006) ‘Changes in blood pressure after various forms of therapeutic massage: A preliminary study’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 12(1), pp. 65–70. doi: 10.1089/acm.2006.12.65.
3. Pinar, R. and Afsar, F. (2016) ‘Back massage to decrease state anxiety, cortisol level, blood prsessure, heart rate and increase sleep quality in family caregivers of patients with cancer: A randomised controlled trial’, Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention. doi: 10.7314/APJCP.2015.16.18.8127
4. Givi, M. (2013) ‘Durability of effect of massage therapy on blood pressure’, International Journal of Preventive Medicine.
5. Mohebbi, Z. et al. (2014) ‘The effect of back massage on blood pressure in the patients with primary hypertension in 2012-2013: a randomized clinical trial.’, International journal of community based nursing and midwifery, 2(4), pp. 251–8. Available at:
6. Walaszek, R. (2015) ‘Impact of classic massage on blood pressure in patients with clinically diagnosed hypertension’, Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan / sponsored by All-China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. doi: 10.1016/s0254-6272(15)30115-1.
7. Shahrjerdi, S. (2020) ‘The Effect of Eight Weeks of Massage on Blood Pressure, Heart Rate and C-Reactive Protein in Women With Hypertension’, Journal of Arak University of Medical Sciences, 23(3), pp. 398–411. doi: 10.32598/jams.23.3.620.3.