Massage Therapy and Exercise May Improve Bone Mineralization in Premature Infants in Marlboro NJ

A study has shown that a combined regimen of massage therapy and physical activity has significantly increased bone mineralization in premature infants. This is an important development that could be used to help premature infants everywhere. Perhaps therapeutic massage could also be used to stimulate bone growth in premature infants in Marlboro NJ, as well as in Monmouth County, Englishtown, Manalapan, Morganville, Old Bridge, Freehold, Howell, Millstone, Matawan, Aberdeen, and Colts Neck.

Hany Aly, M.D., Mohamed F. Moustafa, Sahar M. Hassanein, An N. Massaro, Hanna A. Amer and Kantilal Patel, members of the staff of the George Washington University Hospital and Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C, and the Ain Shams University School of Medicine in Cairo, Egypt, did the study entitled “Physical Activity Combined with Massage Improves Bone Mineralization in Premature Infants: A Randomized Trial.” It was published originally in 2004 on pages 305-309 of the Journal of Perinatology, Vol. 24.

The study covered 30 premature infants who had gestational ages of only 35 weeks or less. All of them were less than two weeks postnatal and weighed less than four pounds each.

The infants were randomly divided into two groups. The infants in the activity group were given five minutes of massage therapy daily, as well as range of motion exercises until each infant reached a body weight of four pounds. The massage session involved slow and gentle strokes on the infant’s head, face, neck, shoulders, upper back, arms, hands, waist, thighs, legs and feet while the infant was prone. The physical activity involved five repetitions each of gentle compression and extension or flexion on the infant’s shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles. The control group received no massage therapy or exercise.

Before any of the interventions were done and after the infants had reached a body weight of four pounds, the biomarkers of bone formation and resorption were measured. These included levels of C-terminal procollagen peptide (PICP), urine pryidinoline (urine Pyd), serum calcium, alkaline phosphatase and parathyroid hormone (PTH).

Daily monitoring was done on all the infants’ feeding, measuring their intake of calories, calcium, phosphorus and protein.

Results of the study showed that urine pryidinoline (urine Pyd) and serum calcium increased in both groups of infants while there was no significant change in alkaline phosphatase.

There was, however, a significant increase in mean levels of PICP in the activity group by the end of the study, in contrast with a decrease in mean levels of PICP in the control group.

Mean levels of PTH also significantly increased in the activity group by the end of the study, in comparison to the PTH levels of the control group.

The effects of the study’s intervention led the researchers to conclude that “Physical activity combined with infant massage stimulates bone formation in premature infants as evidenced by an increase in PICP, a biochemical marker of bone formation, and an increase in PTH activity, which may further stimulate bone growth and mineralization.”

While therapeutic massage is being used to attempt to increase bone mineralization in premature infants, massage therapy from a professional massage spa can also most probably help their parents overcome stress and anxiety. The parents of preterm infants will be better equipped to take on their parenting roles after undergoing relaxing and invigorating reflexology massage therapy, deep tissue massage therapy, sports massage therapy and Swedish massage therapy. The mothers may enjoy the experience enough to want to have pregnancy massage therapy the next time they get pregnant. Long term care from massage therapy will always be available for these parents from a massage spa in Marlboro NJ that also serves Monmouth County, Englishtown, Manalapan, Morganville, Old Bridge, Freehold, Howell, Millstone, Matawan, Aberdeen, and Colts Neck.