The benefits of a massage are usually thought of as a relaxing luxury reserved mostly for those at a spa or harried executives. New research however, points to numerous medical benefits for individuals of all ages, including infants.
Massage reduces anxiety and lowers the blood levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
The stress-lowering aspect of massage also seems to play an important role in alleviating many causes of depression and behavior disorders. Many of the benefits of massage seen in adults are now being documented in infants and children. In one such study, premature infants were given 15 minutes of massage three times a day for ten days while still in incubators. Massaged babies gained weight about 47 percent faster than those who weren't, and as a result, they could be discharged from the hospital an average of six days earlier than those who didn't get a daily rubdown. Loving communication Infant massage is not limited to use on premature infants, according to Dr. Karyl Bental, a pediatrician with PediatricCare, a division of Maxis Health System in Carbondale.