Guided Imagery and Chemotherapy Side Effects

Self-Massage and Quitting Smoking

Withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and nicotine cravings often occur when someone stops smoking. Massage Therapy has been shown to reduce anxiety, improve mood, and decrease stress hormones in the body. Would self-massage have similar effects?

Twenty adult smokers were randomly assigned to a self-massage or control group. The treatment group learned a hand or ear self-massage to be applied to 3 cigarette
cravings per day for 1 month.

The results showed that the self-massage group had less anxiety, better mood, and fewer withdrawal symptoms as compared to the control group. The self-massage group also was smoking less cigarettes per day at the end of the month.

Researchers remark that "the present findings suggest that self-massage may be an effective adjunct treatment for adults attempting smoking cessation to alleviate smoking-related anxiety, reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms, improve mood, and reduce the number of cigarettes smoked."
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Smoking cravings are reduced by self-massage. Hernandez-Reif M, Field T, Hart S. Prev Med 1999 Jan;28(1):28-32