It seems that massage therapy improves the sleep patterns of fibromyalgia patients. In a study on Fibromyalgia Pain and Substance P Decrease and Sleep Improves After Massage Therapy done by Tiffany Field; Miguel Diego; Christy Cullen; Maria Hernandez-Reif; William Sunshine; Steven Douglas for the Touch Research Institutes of the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, Florida and Children´s Hospital of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, massage therapy has been observed to be helpful in some patients with fibromyalgia. This study was designed to examine the effects of massage therapy versus relaxation (tapes, breathing exercises) therapy on sleep, substance P, and pain in fibromyalgia patients. Twenty-four adult fibromyalgia patients were assigned randomly to a massage therapy or relaxation therapy group. They received 30-minute treatments twice weekly for 5 weeks. Both groups showed a decrease in anxiety and depressed mood immediately after the first and last therapy sessions. However, across the course of the study, only the massage therapy group reported an increase in the number of sleep hours and a decrease in their sleep movements. In addition, substance P levels decreased, and the patients´ physicians assigned lower disease and pain ratings and rated fewer tender points in the massage therapy group.


- posted by Jen's Journal @ 7:14 AM