The effect of a scalp massage on stress hormone, blood pressure, and heart rate of healthy female.

Only 34 female office workers were studied, so the results may not apply to men, older adults, people with diagnosed stress or hypertension, or patients seen in clinic. The paper says participants were randomly recruited, but it does not describe random assignment to groups, blinding, or how dropouts were handled. The control group received no massage, so the effects cannot be separated from attention, routine, or time. The massage program included shoulder, neck, larynx, occiput, temple, ear and face techniques, so the effect cannot be attributed to scalp contact alone. The paper reports hormone and blood-pressure changes, but it does not report functional, symptom, or patient-reported stress outcomes. Epinephrine and heart rate did not show significant group differences over time, so the physiological effect was not uniform across outcomes.

Do not conclude that this massage program is an effective stress treatment for all patients. The study only found changes in norepinephrine, cortisol and blood pressure in female office workers, while epinephrine and heart rate did not show significant group differences.