Hands versus Machine

Someone asked me to discuss a really interesting topic...

Human/hands delivery of massage versus machine massage!

Being massaged by hands, by a person, means that there is a two way communication, response, and adaptation.

Delivering massage with hands, the practitioner is able to be responsive, relational, and adaptive by responding to feedback and communication.

The deliverer and the recipient can communicate about what feels good, what feels bad, what can be repeated or changed.

This communication could be verbal or could be non verbal, such as the attention by the therapist to a change in muscle tone, muscle guarding, temperature, breathing, body language, and so on.

Human connection and co-regulation plays a huge role in the positive outcomes of massage too.

Positive, safe, trusted human touch, has the possibility of stimulating the production of the neurotransmitters oxytocin (bonding, trust, wellbeing) and decreasing cortisol (stress) production.

Humans are modulating output based on input with immediacy and consideration of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Machine massage can be beneficial in instances where humans might fatigue, where duration or intensity of pressure or stimulus is required.

Machines might also be more easily accessible or affordable for quick bursts of attention.

Here, we also come to two classifications of non-human, non-hand massage.

We can have human operated tools such as a massage gun, which clearly offers a stimulus of prolonged and extreme vibration that no human has the possibility of delivering.

Dry needling is another technique the human hands alone cannot delivery, but are responsible for the use of.

We also have non-human operated machine massage applications like massage chairs. 

Machines cannot respond and adapt, but they can offer consistent and prolonged output.

With machine use, adaptation falls on the recipient to, for example, get out of the massage chair or turn off the massage gun.

My belief is that the element of human connection generally outweighs any machinery in producing the best outcomes for massage therapy.

Humans with hands win when considering the entire nervous system.

Of course, there is nuance such as the practitioner's interpersonal skills, technical skills, knowledge, experience, and the recipients ability to trust, to speak up.

There is also nuance and consideration to be paid to resources such as time, money, accessibility, comfort, ease of attendance to a therapist.

I hope that was interesting for you and maybe prompted some thought.