It is well known that massage therapists often develop a number of health problems relatively early on in their career. A preliminary study showed that grounding massage therapists during their work may alleviate some of the health problems they encounter. A doubled-blind randomized controlled trial was designed to examine the effects of working and sleeping grounded for 4 weeks on massage therapists’ blood viscosity, stress (through HRV), inflammation (IFN- γ , IL-6, TNF- α , and hsCRP) and oxidative stress (MPO and MDA) biomarkers. The results show stress reduction as measured by heart rate, respir-atory rate and hear rate variability (HRV) and a lowering effect on blood viscosity that lasted for at least one week after ungrounding, with systolic blood viscosity becoming significantly lower at the end of the study. Inflammation markers (IFN- γ , TNF- α , and hsCRP) increased rapidly, within one week, after ungrounding. The findings suggest that grounding is beneficial for massage therapists in multiple domains relevant to health and wellbeing.
Chevalier, G., Sinatra, S.T., Oschman, J.L., Sokal, K. and Sokal, P. (2012) Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth’s Surface Electrons. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2012, Article ID: 291541. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/291541
Oschman, J.L., Chevalier, G. and Brown, R. (2015) The Effects of Grounding (Earthing) on Inflammation, the Immune Response, Wound Healing, and Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Inflammatory and Autoimmune Diseases. Journal of Inflammation Research, 8, 83-96. https://doi.org/10.2147/JIR.S69656
Oschman, J.L., Chevalier, G. and Ober, A.C. (2015) Biophysics of Earthing (Grounding) the Human Body. In: Rosch, P.J., Ed., Bioelectromagnetic and Subtle Energy Medicine, 2nd Edition, CRC Press, New York, 427-448.
Lyons, N. (2016) 3 Things You Should Know Before Becoming a Massage Therapist. http://www.massagetherapyschoolsinformation.com/becoming-amassage-therapist/
Zucker, M. (2016) Goodbye Pain and Inflammation: Massage Table Grounding Pad Re-lieves Therapist’s Overuse Injuries. Dermascope, May Issue. http://www.dermascope.com/scope-this/goodbye-pain-and-inflammation-massage-table-ground-ing-pad-relieves-therapists-overuse-injuries?print=1&tmpl=component#.WdZxQjBryUk
Omoigui, S. (2015) The Biochemical Origin of Pain—Proposing a New Law of Pain: The Origin of All Pain is Inflammation and the Inflammatory Response. Part 1 of 3—A Unifying Law of Pain. Medical Hypotheses, 69, 70-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2006.11.028
Omoigui, S. (2015) The Biochemical Origin of Pain: The Origin of All Pain Is Inflammation and the Inflammatory Response. Part 2 of 3-Inflammatory Profile of Pain Syndromes. Medical Hypotheses, 69, 1169-1178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2007.06.033
Louati, K. and Berenbaum, F. (2015) Fatigue in Chronic Inflammation—A Link to Pain Pathways. Arthritis Research & Therapy, 17, 254. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-015-0784-1
Jones, R. (2009) Investing in Yourself. Massagetherapy.com. http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/1774/Investing-In-Yourself
Oschman, J.L. (2016) Earthing: A New Perspective on the Cause and Prevention of therapist Burnout. Massage & Body Work, March/April, 75-81.
Brown, C.A. and Lilford, R.J. (2006) The Stepped Wedge Trial Design: A Systematic Review. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8, 6-54. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-6-54
Hussey, M.A. and Hughes, J.P. (2007) Design and Analysis of Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trials. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 28, 182-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2006.05.007
Pop, G.A.M., Duncker, D.J., Gardien, M., Vranckx, P., Versluis, S., Hasan, D. and Slager, C.J. (2002) The Clinical Significance of Whole Blood Viscosity in (Cardio)vascular Medicine. Netherlands Heart Journal, 10, 512-516.
Tamariz, L.J., Young, J.H., Pankow, J.S., Yeh, H.C., Schmidt, M.I, Astor, B. and Brancati, F.L. (2008) Blood Viscosity and Hematocrit as Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 168, 1153-1160. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwn243
Rafnsson, S., Deary, I.J., Whiteman, M.C., Rumley, A., Lowe, G.D.O. and Fowkes, F.G.R. (2010) Haemorheological Predictors of Cognitive Decline: The Edinburgh Artery Study. Age and Ageing, 39, 217-222. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afp227
Cho, Y-I. and Cho, D.J. Hemorheology and Microvascular Disorders. Korean Circulation Journal, 41, 287-295. https://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2011.41.6.287
Larsen, P. and Holsworth, R. (2012) Measuring Blood Viscosity to Improve Patient Outcomes. Townsend Letter: The Examiner of Alternative Medicine. http://www.townsendletter.com/Jan2012/measureblood0112.html
Marton, Z., Kesmarky, G., Vekasi, J., Cser, A., Russai, R., Horvath, B. and Toth, K. (2001) Red Blood Cell Aggregation Measurements in Whole Blood and in Fibrinogen Solutions by Different Methods. Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, 24, 75-83.
Chen, W.-L., Tsai, T.-H., Huang, C.-C., Chen, J.-H. and Kuo, C.-D. (2009) Heart Rate Variability Predicts Short-Term Outcome of Successfully Resuscitated Patients with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Resuscitation, 80, 1114-1118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2009.06.020
Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (1996) Heart Rate Variability: Standards of Measurement, Physiological Interpretation, and Clinical Use. European Heart Journal, 17, 354-381. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.eurheartj.a014868
Vivonoetics (2017) VivoSenseR User Manual—Heart Rate Variability Professional Edition. Newport Beach, CA.
Chevalier, G., Sinatra S.T., Oschman, J.L. and Delany, R.M. (2013) Earthing (Grounding) the Human Body Reduces Blood Viscosity—A Major Factor in Cardiovascular Disease. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 19, 102-110. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2011.0820
Chevalier, G. and Sinatra, S.T. (2011) Emotional Stress, Heart Rate Variability, Grounding, and Improved Autonomic Tone: Clinical Applications. Integrative Medicine, 10, 16-21.
Chevalier, G., Mori, K. and Oschman, J.L. (2006) The Effects of Earthing (Grounding) on Human Physiology. European Biology and Bioelectromagnetics, 600-621.
Chevalier, G. (2010) Changes in Pulse Rate, Respiratory Rate, Blood Oxygenation, Perfusion Index, Skin Conductance, and Their Variability Induced During and After Grounding Human Subjects for 40 Minutes. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16, 81-87. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2009.0278
Murata, A. (1992) Effects of Respiration on Heart-Rate Variability Measures. Electronics and Communications in Japan, 75, 107-116. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecjc.4430750210
Garcia, A.J., Koschnitzky, J.E., Dashevskiy, T. and Ramirez, J.-M. (2013) Cardiorespiratory Coupling in Health and Disease. Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical, 175, 26-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autneu.2013.02.006
Wolf, M.M., Varigos, G.A., Hunt, D. and Sloman, J.G. (1978) Sinus Arrhythmia in Acute Myocardial Infarction. The Medical Journal of Australia, 2, 52-53.
Sinnecker, D., Dommasch, M., Steger, A., Barkefekd, A., Hoppmann, P., Muller, A., Gebhardt, J., Barthel, P., Hnatkova, K., Huster, K.H., Laugwitz, K.-L., Malik, M. and Schmidt, G. (2016) Expiration-Triggered Sinus Arrhythmia Predict Outcome in Survivors of Acute Myocardial Infarction. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 67, 2213-2220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2016.03.484
Passi, R., Doheny, K.K., Gordin, Y., Hinssen, H. and Palmer, C. (2017) Electrical Grounding Improves Vagal Tone in Preterm Infants. Neonatology, 112, 187-192. https://doi.org/10.1159/000475744
Perini, R. and Veicsteinas, A. (2003) Heart Rate Variabiity and Autonomic Activity at Rest and During Exercise in Various Physiological Conditions. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 90, 317-325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-003-0953-9
Dvir, H., Bobrovsky, B.Z. and Gabbay, U. (2013) A Novel Heart Rate Control Model Provides Insights Linking LF-HRV Behavior to the Open-Loop Gain. International Journal of Cardiology, 168, 287-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2012.09.073
Pichon, A., de Bisschop, C., Diaz, V. and Denjean, A. (2005) Parasympathetic Airway Response and the Heart Rate Variability Before and at the End of Methacholine Challenge. Chest, 127, 23-29. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.127.1.23