Author(s)

Hiroshi Kuge^1,2, Hidetoshi Mori^2,3, Tsunehiko Wada⁴, Mayumi Watanabe^2*, Tim Hideaki Tanaka², Eiichi Taniwaki⁵, Tateyuki Morisawa³

¹Department of Anesthesiology Pain Clinic, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
²Department of Health, Faculty of Health Science, National University Corporation Tsukuba University of Technology, Tsukuba, Japan.
³Information Science Center for Humanities and Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁴Acupuncture and Physical Therapy Teacher Training School, National University Corporation University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
⁵Sakura Acupuncture Massage Center, Tsukuba, Japan.

Background and Objective: Anma is a traditional Japanese bodywork therapy that has not been widely known and used in the West. There have been only a few Anma studies published in English journals. To study the effect of Anma (traditional Japanese massage) among participants who have neck and shoulder stiffness symptoms (so-called Katakori, in Japanese). Methods: The study participants consisted of seventy-seven (Study 1), thirteen (Study 2), and twenty (Study 3) adults with “Katakori” symptoms. The research design is as follows: (Study1) Randomized, Parallel-Group, Controlled Trial. (Study 2) Crossover Clinical Trial. (Study 3) Randomized, Parallel-Group, Controlled Trial. And we conducted Anma treatment for 45 minutes (Treatment) or rest in lying position for 45 minutes (Control). Results: In study 1, the symptom of “Katakori” was relieved after Anma treatment in Anma group (p < 0.001, effect size (es) d: 2.2). There was a significant interaction between the Anma group and the control group (p < 0.001). In study 2, MBV significantly increased following Anma treatment. There was a significant interaction between the Anma group and the control group (p = 0.022). In study 3, the symptom of “Katakori” was relieved after Anma treatment in the treatment group. There were no significant interactions between the groups in VAS and MBV values. Discussion and Conclusions: The study demonstrated that Anma therapy decreases “Katakori” symptoms while increasing MBV in the shoulder region.

Massage Therapy, Acupressure, Musculoskeletal Pain, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Muscle Blood Volume (MBV), Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS), Anma, Katakori

Kuge, H. , Mori, H. , Wada, T. , Watanabe, M. , Tanaka, T. , Taniwaki, E. and Morisawa, T. (2022) The Effects of Anma (Traditional Japanese Massage)—Randomised Trial. Health, 14, 775-787. doi: 10.4236/health.2022.147056.