For many masssage therapists, it's a mantra we say over and over and over yet one more time... Massage Therapy has so many benefits. Now, researchers have given additional credence to these words.

We all know that massage therapy lowers blood pressure, decreases muscle tension, can reduce or eliminate pain in muscles and joints, and obviously it promotes relaxation. We've also known that massage therapy reduces anxiety. It's theorized that this reduction in anxiety is related to certain neurochemicals and hormones that are released during massage work. But what causes the release of these chemicals?

In a Reuters Health article the author points to two additional potential reasons massage is beneficial to patients suffering from depression. One is that the patient builds an alliance with the massage therapist, and the other is that the body is caused to relase the "trust" hormone, oxytocin.

Are the benefits physical or are they psychological? More reasearch is needed. Yes, massage has great benefits - but now we need some hard evidence as to WHY it works. Researchers, more studies please.