A new study has revealed that massage therapy can be effective on quality of life and pain management for people with HIV/AIDS.

Typically, people with HIV/AIDS may experience a lower quality of life due to complications of the disease. Massage therapy could help with improving overall health and the ability to deal with the stress caused by having the disease.

Four controlled trials using massage therapy on children, adolescents and adults with HIV, or late stage AIDS, supported previous claims that massage can be beneficial particularly when used in conjunction with meditation and relaxation techniques.

One study also reported positive changes in immune function, in particular CD4+ cell count and natural killer cell counts, due to massage therapy. However, the claim that massage therapy can improve the body’s ability to fight the disease has yet to be convincingly proven. Researchers have called for further studies to investigate this possibility.

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