Features Nutrition Wellness
Research: Winter 2003

The benefits of massage therapy allow dancers of all ages and levels to reduce the chance of injury and minimize recovery time. This gives the dancers the opportunity to continue dancing as a hobby or to purse it as a professional career. These young tap dancers are from STAR-LITE DANCE STUDIO in Hamilton, Ontario.

Dancers
Leivadi, S., Hernandez-Reif, M., Field, T., O’Rourke, M., D’Arienzo, S., Lewis, D., del Pino, N., Schanberg,
S., Kuhn, C. (1999).

Massage Therapy and Relaxation Effects on University Dance Students. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, 3, 108-112.

METHOD:
Thirty female university dancers were randomly assigned to a massage therapy or relaxation therapy group. The therapies consisted of 30-minute sessions twice a week for five weeks.

RESULTS:
Both groups reported less depressed mood and lowered anxiety levels. However, saliva cortisol (stress hormones) decreased only for the massage therapy group. Both groups reported less neck, shoulder, and back pain after the treatment sessions and reduced back pain across the study. However, only the massage therapy group showed increased range of motion across the study, including neck extension and shoulder abduction.