Massage Therapy as an Adjunct to Alcohol Detoxification?

Massage
therapy can lower anxiety, blood pressure, and heart rate.
It has also been used as an adjunct to smoking cessation
therapies to reduce nicotine withdrawal symptoms. To examine
whether massage therapy may reduce symptoms of alcohol
withdrawal, researchers conducted a randomized controlled
trial of 50 patients with alcohol dependence who were
undergoing detoxification with diazepam.

They
compared patients who, for 15 minutes on 4 consecutive
days, either received a seated massage (back, shoulder,
neck, and head) or rested on their beds. At the beginning
and end of each massage/rest session, researchers measured
subjects’ withdrawal symptoms (with the Alcohol Withdrawal
Scale [AWS]), pulse rates, and respirations.

• The massage group had
  reduced AWS scores after each of the 4 daily sessions;
  the control group had reduced scores only on 2 days
  (and increased scores on the other days). Reductions
  were significantly greater in the massage group on day
  1 only.
• The massage group also
  had significantly greater reductions in pulse rate (on
  3 of 4 days) and in respiration (day 4 only).
• The
  dose of diazepam used during detoxification did not
  differ between the groups.

Comments:

One
limitation in the article reporting these findings is
the lack of specificity about the medication regimen during
detoxification. Nonetheless, this study illustrates the
potential benefit of a nonpharmacologic adjunct to treatment
for alcohol withdrawal. Larger studies should examine
whether massage and other alternative therapies can decrease
medication requirements without increasing complications
(e.g., seizures, delirium) and help increase referrals
to alcoholism treatment.

Joseph Conigliaro, MD, MPH

Reference:

Reader M, Young R, Connor JP. Massage therapy improves the management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. J Altern Compliment Medicine. 2005;11(2):311-313.