Shiatsu Massage for High Blood Pressure (HBP)

Shiatsu massage, also called Zen shiatsu, is an Oriental technique to treat common physical and psychological ailments through finger pressure. This particular type of massage therapy alleviates pain, get rids of depression, stress and anxiety and also reduces blood pressure.

High blood pressure (HBP) is a severe condition that may lead to heart failure, stroke, or coronary heart disease among other health problems.  Many people around the world suffer from high blood pressure, with 1 in 3 adults in the US alone. Blood pressure is pressure from the blood against artery walls. If this is too strong, it can damage not only the artery, but the body as a whole.

There are lots of ways to treat high blood pressure, including taking medications and going under a diet program.  Some people however are not satisfied because it is either the drugs they are taking are not working, or the diet program does not make them feel any better. Most of these people seek alternatives to treat HBP and more often than not, they resort to Shiatsu massage.

Zen shiatsu fuses together philosophical, spiritual and medical facets of the human body making sure that energy called qi flows freely in the body. Circulating the energy carries away toxins and replenishes the body by bringing it back to it's natural state. Finger pressure, according to experts, is one good way to reduce blood pressure because it increases blood circulation.  Apart from that, it also reduces stress, anxiety and other chronic pain.

Shiatsu massage has been an integrated part of conventional medicine for years as a complementary technique to aid people who have high blood pressure. In 2004, a book on alternative and complementary medicine was published in Europe. The study was done by Andrew F. Long, BA, MSc, MPhil from the University of Salford UK and Hannah C. Mackay, BSc, PhD with the main objective on providing insight on the short and long term effects of shiatsu. The study was done in Germany and the United Kingdom. The results were the same, all the participants both from the UK and Germany described immediate effects along with long term ones. Most of the effects were positive making Zen shiatsu a very effective type of massage therapy. Only very few experienced a negative side effect, but the said side effect which was emotional by nature did not last very long.