A groundbreaking new study shows that massage can help muscle re-growth after an injury – even when applied to the opposite, uninjured limb. Jane Kitchen takes a closer look
By Jane Kitchen | Published in Spa Business 2017 issue 4
Massage could be used for patients after orthopaedic surgeries / shutterstock
Massage has long been known in the physiology world as an easy-to-use treatment with very few side effects, which can also lessen pain, decrease anxiety and stress, increase flexibility, improve immunity and increase blood flow. But its value for muscle regeneration has also now been demonstrated, and researchers from Colorado State University (CSU) and the University of Kentucky have found some surprising new benefits with important implications for healing.
The researchers have shown that massage can increase the re-growth of muscle tissue after an injury – even when applied to the opposite, uninjured limb. Their paper, published in November in The Journal of Physiology, showed that muscle grew faster after a massage because the making of protein in cells was improved. They also showed that when one leg was massaged, the muscle in the other, non-massaged leg also grew faster.
This has implications for people on bed rest, the elderly or those having a prolonged hospital stay, as muscle is lost quickly during periods of disuse and is difficult to grow back – especially in the elderly. Karyn Hamilton and Ben Miller, faculty members of CSU’s Department of Health and Exercise Science and authors on the paper, say the concept that massaging one limb might also lead to benefits in another non-massaged limb is groundbreaking.
“For instance, if you injured one leg and couldn’t massage it because of that injury, we now have evidence suggesting that massaging the other non-injured leg could lead to benefits in the injured leg,” says Hamilton. “That’s a novel finding with potentially very important implications.”
The researchers used rats that underwent a period of inactivity to decrease muscle mass, then were allowed to recover. During the recovery period, the rats were massaged every other day, and the researchers analysed the muscle for the size of muscle fibres, making of proteins, presence of other cells and communication in the cells that programmes them to grow.
The research team is beginning studies with human participants, and hopes to find similar implications.
“We foresee that massage could be used in situations where other treatments, such as exercise, can’t be applied: in the intensive care unit and in patients who are under non-weight-bearing orders after orthopaedic surgeries,” says Esther Dupont-Versteegden, one of the investigators at the University of Kentucky’s College of Health Sciences.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Promotional feature: Anne Semonin
Katherine Connolly, newly appointed global
director of retail and spa operations at Anne
Semonin, discusses her plans for the brand
Promotional feature: Thalion
Thalion is the first company to develop highly
specialised mineral therapies for clients, says
training manager Sophie Alemany
Research: Finishing touch
A new study shows that massage can
help muscle re-growth after an injury –
even when applied to the opposite limb
The Spa Life UK Convention returns from 21–23 June 2026 at Whittlebury Park Hotel, Spa &
Golf Resort, bringing together spa managers, directors and owners for two days of focused
education, meaningful connection and commercial insight. [more...]
A groundbreaking new study shows that massage can help muscle re-growth after an injury – even when applied to the opposite, uninjured limb. Jane Kitchen takes a closer look
By Jane Kitchen | Published in Spa Business 2017 issue 4
Massage could be used for patients after orthopaedic surgeries / shutterstock
Massage has long been known in the physiology world as an easy-to-use treatment with very few side effects, which can also lessen pain, decrease anxiety and stress, increase flexibility, improve immunity and increase blood flow. But its value for muscle regeneration has also now been demonstrated, and researchers from Colorado State University (CSU) and the University of Kentucky have found some surprising new benefits with important implications for healing.
The researchers have shown that massage can increase the re-growth of muscle tissue after an injury – even when applied to the opposite, uninjured limb. Their paper, published in November in The Journal of Physiology, showed that muscle grew faster after a massage because the making of protein in cells was improved. They also showed that when one leg was massaged, the muscle in the other, non-massaged leg also grew faster.
This has implications for people on bed rest, the elderly or those having a prolonged hospital stay, as muscle is lost quickly during periods of disuse and is difficult to grow back – especially in the elderly. Karyn Hamilton and Ben Miller, faculty members of CSU’s Department of Health and Exercise Science and authors on the paper, say the concept that massaging one limb might also lead to benefits in another non-massaged limb is groundbreaking.
“For instance, if you injured one leg and couldn’t massage it because of that injury, we now have evidence suggesting that massaging the other non-injured leg could lead to benefits in the injured leg,” says Hamilton. “That’s a novel finding with potentially very important implications.”
The researchers used rats that underwent a period of inactivity to decrease muscle mass, then were allowed to recover. During the recovery period, the rats were massaged every other day, and the researchers analysed the muscle for the size of muscle fibres, making of proteins, presence of other cells and communication in the cells that programmes them to grow.
The research team is beginning studies with human participants, and hopes to find similar implications.
“We foresee that massage could be used in situations where other treatments, such as exercise, can’t be applied: in the intensive care unit and in patients who are under non-weight-bearing orders after orthopaedic surgeries,” says Esther Dupont-Versteegden, one of the investigators at the University of Kentucky’s College of Health Sciences.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Promotional feature: Anne Semonin
Katherine Connolly, newly appointed global
director of retail and spa operations at Anne
Semonin, discusses her plans for the brand
Promotional feature: Thalion
Thalion is the first company to develop highly
specialised mineral therapies for clients, says
training manager Sophie Alemany
Research: Finishing touch
A new study shows that massage can
help muscle re-growth after an injury –
even when applied to the opposite limb
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, Vietnam, has put together a Global Wellness Day
(GWD) agenda with activations rooted in nature and shaped by four pillars of Joy – in
alignment with the day’s theme #JoyMagenta.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2026 event in
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Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a
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Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary,
with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s
Southwest coast – the Calusa.
Swire Hotels’ luxury hospitality brand Upper House has revealed it will roll out its two-day
House of Healing retreats at its three hotels in Hong Kong, Chengdu and Shanghai.
LVMH-owned beauty house Guerlain will launch up to five spas with partners a year as part of
its plan to expand globally, according to the brand’s international spa and wellness director,
Diane Davody.
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Luxury hospitality and wellness pioneer Jeremy McCarthy has launched Leisure Alchemy, a
digital platform that will provide professionals with strategic guidance on how to build
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The Spa Life UK Convention returns from 21–23 June 2026 at Whittlebury Park Hotel, Spa &
Golf Resort, bringing together spa managers, directors and owners for two days of focused
education, meaningful connection and commercial insight. [more...]
