In a recent study, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found that massage creates biological changes in the body after just one session. Scientists gave 29 healthy adults a 45-minute deep tissue massage and tested their blood before and after each massage, finding reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol and an increase in white blood cells that boost the immune system.
Although there have been previous, smaller studies about the health benefits of massage, the Cedars-Sinai study is widely believed to be the first systematic study of a larger group of healthy adults.
Review the study at http://www.liebertonline.com/loi/acm, in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.