Massaging your partner three times a week ‘boosts your health’
Study finds 15-minute sessions increase wellbeing by 12 per cent
COUPLES who give each other massages are less stressed and have a greater sense of wellbeing, a study found.
Researchers recruited 19 couples and taught them simple touching techniques that covered the head, shoulders, arms and back.
Each volunteer answered a questionnaire that assessed mental wellbeing, relationship satisfaction, and perceived stress.
They then massaged each other for 15 minutes around three times a week, for three weeks, before completing the questionnaire again.
It revealed the couples sense of wellbeing increased by 12 per cent over this period. Other measures of satisfaction also improved.
Further questioning revealed people felt benefits after receiving or giving the massage, the British Psychological Society annual conference heard.
All were done fully clothed and without oil.
Three of the couples were homosexual and the rest heterosexual.
Nine in ten couples said that they would recommend mutual massage to their friends and family.
Study leader Sayuri Naruse, from Northumbria University, said: “The benefits of receiving a massage from a professional are well documented, but this research shows how a similar outcome can be obtained by couples with little prior training and experience of the activity.