Massage does much more than create a pleasant sensation on the skin. It also works on the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) to improve muscle tone. Although massage largely affects those muscles immediately under the skin, benefits may also reach the deeper layers of muscle – and possibly even the organs themselves. Massage also stimulates blood circulation and assists the lymphatic system (which runs parallel to the circulatory system), to improve the elimination of waste throughout the body.

Although therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, it can stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for and hasten recovery from the lack of exercise and inactivity caused by illness or injury.

Medical school students who were massaged before an exam showed a significant decrease in anxiety and respiratory rates, as well as a significant increase in white blood cells and natural killer cell activity, suggesting a benefit to the immune system.

Preliminary results suggested cancer patients had less pain and anxiety after receiving therapeutic massage at the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio. Women who had experienced the recent death of a child were less depressed after receiving therapeutic massage, according to a University of South Carolina study.

Studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found massage beneficial in improving weight gain in infants and facilitating recovery in patients who underwent abdominal surgery. At the University of Miami School of Medicine Touch Research Institute, scientists found that massage was helpful in decreasing blood pressure in people with hypertension, alleviating pain in migraine sufferers, and improving alertness and performance in office workers.