研究：按摩确实有助于减少肌肉酸痛和紧张
Research has found evidence of the health benefits of getting a massage, from reducing muscle soreness after exercise to taming stress.
研究发现按摩对健康有益，从锻炼后减轻肌肉酸痛到缓解压力均可以证明这一点。
In past decades, studies have linked massages with having real psychological and physical benefits, according to Antara news agency.
据安塔拉通讯社报道，在过去的十年中，研究表明，按摩对心理和身体都有益处。
A study from Australia, for example, found that a 10-minute muscle massage after a workout could reduce soreness by 30 per cent.
例如，澳大利亚的一项研究发现，锻炼后，十分钟的肌肉按摩可以减少30%的疼痛。
A separate review study further found there was a 31 per cent drop in cortisol following a massage. At the same time, feel-good hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin, increased by approximately 30 per cent.
另一项回顾性研究进一步发现，按摩后皮质醇水平会下降31%。同时，像多巴胺和血清素这种感觉良好的激素，会增加大约30%。
Other research on different forms of self-massage, such as foam rolling, have also shown that it could reduce muscle soreness and improve pain symptoms, even among people with osteoarthritis.
其他关于不同形式的自我按摩的研究表明，像泡沫轴滚压的按摩可以减轻肌肉酸痛，改善疼痛的症状，甚至对患有骨关节炎的人都有良好的效果。
Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, noted that in fact, pain reduction, along with depression relief, are some of the benefits that research have most consistently linked to massages.
迈阿密大学触觉研究所的主管蒂芙妮·菲尔德指出，事实上，缓解抑郁，减少疼痛，是研究中与按摩联系最紧密的好处。
According to some of Field’s work, massages may improve immune system function in people with breast cancer and leukemia, along with reducing their physical and emotional pain. Field said fMRI studies have shown that a massage increases blood flow in areas of the brain associated with mood and stress regulation.
菲尔德的一些研究表明，按摩可能会改善乳腺癌和白血病患者的免疫系统功能，同时减轻他们身体上和情绪上的伤痛。菲尔德说功能磁共振成像研究表明按摩会促进大脑中有关情绪和压力的区域的血液流动。
"Pressure receptors under the skin, when stimulated, increase vagal activity," Field says, as quoted by Time. The vagus nerve is a major component of the human nervous system that plays a role in automatic functions like heart rate, breathing and digestion.
在《时代周刊》中，菲尔德说皮肤下的压力感受器受到刺激后，会增加迷走神经活动。迷走神经是人类神经系统的一个主要组成部分，在心率、呼吸和消化等自动功能中发挥着重要的作用。
Increased activity in the vagus nerve could produce a calming effect, which would explain the drop in cortisol and other stress-related symptoms.
迷走神经活动增加可以产生镇定的效果，这也解释了皮质醇的减少和其他与压力有关症状的缓解。
In explaining it, Field likened the process to the reaction in rubbing a pain site after a bump to the elbow or the knee. The condition plays into the "gate theory" of pain, which theorizes that activating related touch receptors prevents the brain from fully registering painful stimuli.
在解释的过程中，菲尔德把这个过程比作肘部或膝盖碰撞后疼痛部位的反应。这种情况会影响疼痛的“门理论”，这一理论认为，激活相关的触觉感受器可以防止大脑对疼痛的刺激进行全面的记录。
"This is another way pain might be alleviated by massage," Field says.
菲尔德说:“这是通过按摩缓解疼痛的另一种方式。”
On immune function improvement, Field says benefits linked to the hormones and nervous system following a massage may protect the immune system’s natural killer cells, which is a type of white blood cell that fights of viruses and helps prevent tumour growth.
在免疫功能改善方面，菲尔德说，在按摩后，与激素和神经系统相关的益处可能会保护免疫系统的自然杀伤细胞，这是一种白细胞可以对抗病毒，有助于防止肿瘤生长。
Research findings are still controversial, however, as some review studies have found only weak evidence that massage offers pain-reducing benefits.
然而，这些研究结果仍然存在争议，因为一些回顾性研究发现，只有不充分的证据表明，按摩可以减轻疼痛。
Solid argument to support that a massage is beneficial for health is faced with a challenge in the fact that it is difficult to design a massage study that eliminates the placebo effect, in order to determine the results of a real massage with its non-placebo effects.
支持按摩对健康有益的有力论据正面临挑战，事实上，很难设计一项按摩研究，能够消除安慰剂效果对研究结果的影响，以确定真正的按摩效果。
Field further added that it is also still difficult to know how much is ideal as most studies have looked at one massage a week.
菲尔德进一步补充说，现在仍然很难知道有多少研究是理想的，因为大多数的研究都是观察每周一次的按摩。
Nevertheless, she said regular massages and even five minutes of foam rolling a day could be beneficial. "I always say that it’s probably like exercise, where more is better," she says.
尽管如此，她说定期按摩，甚至每天5分钟的泡沫轴滚压按摩都是有益的。她说:“我一直说，这可能就像锻炼一样，越多越好。”
（来源：新东方英语）