Resources
Below are some resources that I commonly refer to clients to add to their regular routine or articles of interest. Also included in this section are articles on food as therapy and research articles on shiatsu.
There have been some significant research papers published on shiatsu over the last 20 years including research into shiatsu and significant benefits for lower back pain, headaches, sleep problems, autism spectrum and fibromyalgia.
A comprehensive list can be found at www.staa.org.au/research
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One of the most beneficial Qi Gong practices you can do.
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Dr Andrew Long, School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, (2007)
This report contains evidence of health benefits found through the experience of Shiatsu across three countries - England, Spain and Austria
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I-Hui Chen RN, et. al. (2019) Journal of the American Medical Directors Association
This was a randomised, double-blind, sham-controlled trial. Sixty-two nursing home residents with poor sleep quality and psychological distress participated. The study concludes that "Acupressure at true acupoints improves sleep quality, reduces psychological distress, and provides more clinically beneficial effects compared with that at sham points."
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Lanza G. et. al. (2018) Complementary Therapies in Medicine Vol 38
This study revealed that "The combination of Shiatsu and physical activity improved depression in AD patients compared to physical activity alone. The pathemechanism might involve neuroendocrine-mediated effects of Shiatsu on neural circuits implicated in mood and affect regulation."
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Villani V., et. al. (2017) Neuralogical Sciences Springer-Verlag Italia
"This article presents the findings from a single-blind, randomised trial investigating the effect of combining shiatsu plus amitriptyline for patients with refractory headaches. Although the combination did not provide any additive/synergistic effect, the shiatsu was superior to amitriptyline in reducing the number of pain killers taken per month. There was no safety concern for shiatsu (alone or in combination)."
Read
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Brady L., et. al. (2001) Journal of Holistic Nursing
Shiatsu, a specific type of massage, was used as an intervention in this study of 66 individuals complaining of lower back pain. Each individual was measured on state/trait anxiety and pain level before and after four shiatsu treatments.
Each subject was then called 2 days following each treatment and asked to quantify the level of pain. Both pain and anxiety decreased significantly over time.
Extraneous variables such as gender, age, gender of therapist, length of history with lower back pain, and medications taken for lower back pain did not alter the significant results.
These subjects would recommend shiatsu massage for others suffering from lower back pain and indicated the treatments decreased the major inconveniences they experienced with their lower back pain.