I have not yet read all of these articles--I am simply bookmarking them here for myself and for any people searching for information who stumble across this post.
The source, https://bodyinmind.org/ is based at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, and Neuroscience Research Australia in Sydney. The amazing Lorimer Moseley "leads the group in undertaking research that traverses ‘the translational pipeline’ from fundamental behavioural and physiological experiments in humans, to major randomised controlled trials and prognostic studies."
There is surprisingly little research--real research--into how, why, or if massage actually helps with pain.
Why is that? Well, for one thing, a study needs a control group--people who think they are getting a treatment or medication, who aren't. Well, how do you do 'fake' massage? You can't--the person in the control group will know if they are being massaged or not!
Most of us know, instinctively, that massage feels good, is calming, is helpful for the nervous system. It is a rare person who does not crave a good shoulder rub when neck and shoulders are stiff and painful from sitting, driving, schlepping little kids around, digging ditches, milking cows, pruning trees (personal experience here!)
Here is the study--one of the better ones on the subject.
This is a great picture, showing how touches on your skin is perceived by your brain - including, of course, how massage is perceived.
Via mechanoreceptors in the skin, your brain collects information such as pressure and temperature. Your brain then evaluates where you are, checks to see if you have been in this place or this situation before, and decides what to do. If the brain decides you are in danger--if, for example you touch a sharp needle and prick your finger, the brain will take you to safety--by making your finger hurt, and activate muscles to make you pull your finger away.
It is important to understand that, although there are different kinds of mechanoreceptors in your skin, there is no such thing as a 'pain receptor'.
The picture is from this article, which explores if keratinocytes, the most common cells in the outer layer of skin, the epidermis, have a role in touch sensation, and how they communicates communicate with cell-sensory neuron communication, The researchers postulate that this may allow for easy, non-invasive treatment options for pain currently in use--specifically topical analgesics and antipruritics.
Schematic diagram depicting the proposed mechanism for ATP release induced by mechanical stimulation of keratinocytes and its interaction with P2X4 on sensory nerve endings.
Touching of the skin, and therefore the mechanical stimulation of keratinocytes, elicits release of factors such as ATP, which in turn, acts on P2X4 and possibly other receptors on sensory neurons found within the epidermis, thereby causing action potential firing in the neurons and downstream effects leading to touch perception.
I originally began studying massage because of its therapeutic value.
It means so much more. We are hardwired by evolution - the experience of touch is necessary for our emotional and physical well-being, down to our very immune system.
I believe that the hyper vigilance that has sprung up regarding touch, including casual social contact, is depriving us of this basic human interaction.
Strokes and hugs are being edged out of our lives, with doctors, teachers and colleagues increasingly hesitant about social touching. Is this hypervigilance of boundaries beginning to harm our mental health?
hen did you last touch someone outside your family or intimate relationship? I don’t mean a brush of the fingers when you took your parcel from the delivery guy. I mean: when did you pat the arm or back of a stranger, colleague or friend? My own touch diary says that I have touched five people to whom I’m not related in the past seven days. One was a newborn and two were accidental (that was the delivery guy). Touch is the first sense humans develop in the womb, possessed even of 1.5cm embryos. But somewhere in adulthood what was instinctive to us as children has come to feel awkward, out of bounds.
This is a subject near and dear to my heart - I find it incredibly annoying that, at the age of 56, laying off my usual active lifestyle for a few weeks, my muscles melt away. Unfortunately, muscle mass and strength decrease with age, even in elite older athletes, a condition called sarcopenia,and the process does indeed speed up after age 50. This sucks. Now, exercise does indeed offer a protective effect - so, yes, three weeks without dancing, hiking, or massaging caused my muscles to practically wither away (well, I was busy, my son got married :-)). Most of us know that you need protein to build - and maintain - muscle. I did not know that after 50, the body apparently is less efficient at metabolizing protein--according to the papers linked to below, older people need more protein to build/ maintain muscle. In addition, protein intake should be divided between meals in order to maximize effects - this is true in individuals of all ages. I myself do not take supplements of any type, nor do I intend to; the interplay of nutrients in any food is complex, and is not understood--no matter WHAT the manufacturers of supplements and vitamins might tell you. Therefore:
I intend to make sure I take in adequate protein during the day, and increase that slightly on days that I exercise.
I will space my protein over my meals, with a daily goal of 45 to 50 grams - appropriate for my size, weight and age. For example, my usual breakfast: plain yogurt, fruit, a few nuts works out to be 12 grams of protein, my usual lunch of salad - arugula, olives, feta cheese, chick peas - works out to be about 25 grams.
I will not go the 'high protein' route - this has not consistently been shown to be of benefit, and may be detrimental to kidney function.
Recently, I became aware that pollen allergies, most commonly to the pollen of specific varieties of tree and grass, coexist with OAS, Oral Allergy Syndrome. In OAS, a person will often develop itching or burning in the mouth and throat withing minutes of eating a particular food (although symptoms may be delayed). They can also react with histamine release in the digestive system - causing diarrhea and other GI symtoms.
OAS puts a person at risk for anaphylaxis.
Many years ago, when on of my children developed atopic dermatitis as an infant, and then asthma, I kept a detailed daily diary. I noted, for example, that if that child was sensitized, having asthmatic episodes, eating tomatoes would cause eczema. I became aware that allergy is very complex--and realized this is one of the reasons bullshit artists, healers, etc, have a field day with allergy sufferers.
It is the height of the allergy season here, olives are flowering, and as I listened to the sneezing of my loved ones, I remembered that they have also mentioned itching of the mouth and throat when eating melons and certain other fruit. So I started reading.
I am recording some of the articles I have read--good way to keep track!
Cypress pollen/peach cross-reactivity--and conditional sensitization ( BP14) , once sensitized, one is more likely to become sensitive to similar allergens within the same protein family which are present in other allergen sources.
This TED talk does an excellent job of explaining chronic pain. It includes a case study with a happy ending: CRPS..allodynia...horrid, unre...