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Touch deprived? Regular massage is the answer.
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Human beings were built for touch. With upwards of 10 lbs of skin on the average human body, and miles upon miles of touch receptors within it, the skin is our largest organ. This makes touch the “largest” of the 5 senses. Yet in modern U.S. society, the average citizen suffers from a deficit of healthy physical contact. Massage is an easy and pleasant way to increase one’s recommended daily allowance of touch.
Numerous studies have shown that massage reduces anxiety, lessens chronic pain, improves digestion, aids in better sleep, and promotes a stronger immune system. Certain enlightened companies are including massage in their employees’ health benefits, realizing that reducing physical and emotional stress now heads off chronic (and expensive) conditions later. Yet countless people still consider massage a decadent “luxury” to be relegated to a special treat on a birthday or special occasion.
In The Free Medical Dictionary, touch deprivation is defined as:
“…a lack of tactile stimulation, especially in early infancy. If continued for a sufficient length of time, it may lead to serious developmental and emotional disturbances, such as stunted growth, personality disorders, and social regression. In severe cases a child who is deprived of adequate physical handling and emotional stimulation may not survive infancy.”
Most studies about human touch have been done on infants and the elderly, both of whom show significant health benefits when their physical contact with other people is increased. Author and researcher Tiffany Field of the Touch Research Institute writes in her book TOUCH of post-World War II orphans in Europe who withered and even died because the orphanages were too understaffed to provide the babies with adequate holding, rocking, and stroking (even though their basic nutritional and safety needs were met). She also references a study in which nursing home patients who received regular massage, pats on the cheek, and loving strokes on the arm showed fewer signs of senility. Clearly, touch matters.
So what does this mean for those of us who fall somewhere in the “middle” of life? Though we are no longer babies and not quite yet elderly, there remains a need for regular touch. Hugging our friends and loved ones more is a start. In addition, regular massage can fit in as an important step for receiving healthy and healthful touch.
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