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| Titre de l’article | Physiological and somatosensory responses to wet Therapeutic Body Wrap as compared to relaxing massage and rest in healthy volunteers. |
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| Code d’article | P01 |
| Auteurs | |
| Forme de présentation | Poster |
| Domaines thématiques |
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| Résumé (Abstract) |
Introduction: Mind-body therapies represent a group of interventions aimed to improve the interaction between mind and body function, and to induce the calming effect. Among them, Therapeutic Body Wrap (TBW) is used for clinical management of anxiety in the context of psychotic and mood disorders. By now, neither physiological nor somatosensory responses to TBW have been studied. The objective of this observational study was to investigate these first in healthy volunteers and compare it to relaxing massage and rest. Methods: This study involved 26 (19 women, 7 men) healthy volunteers (mean age 27 years), who experienced TBW, which consisted of tightly wrapping the body in one layer of wet cold sheets and several warm blankets. It was compared to those having: 1) relaxing Swedish massage (13 participants, mean age 25 years, 6 women, 7 men), which involved application of moderate homogenous pressure to the back and limbs, and 2) rest in supine position (13 participants, mean age 32 years, 9 women, 4 men). Physiological parameters included heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), breath rate (BR), core and peripheral (leg) skin temperatures (ST). In addition to HRV parameters, the state of the autonomous nervous system (ANS) was assessed by measuring salivary cortisol (sC) and alpha amylase (sAA) levels. The quantitative sensory testing (QST) was used to assess somatosensory system. These data were collected before and after TBW, massage and rest. Results: The trunk ST increased after TBW and rest but decreased after massage. Somatosensory perception as assessed with QST was stable after TBW, massage and rest. The HR and BR decreased after TBW, massage and rest. It was accompanied by significant increase in HRV parameters in all three groups, however, decrease in sC levels was observed only after TBW and rest. There was a tendency towards decrease in sC levels 15 minutes after massage, but it was not significant. Discussion: These objective measurements tools were efficient to explore physiological responses of TBW as compared to relaxing massage and rest. Particularly, assessments of the HRV parameters and sC/ sAA levels, as mediators of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, could be used as reliable indicators of ANS activity, which in our study showing decreased activity of the sympathetic branch. Larger studies using the same tools would be useful to confirm TBW and massage therapeutic effects in various patient populations. |