Touch-based interventions, such as manual or mechanical massage, are increasingly recognized for their role in enhancing well-being and reducing stress-related health issues. A major meta-analysis of 137 studies involving nearly 13,000 participants confirmed that touch can significantly reduce cortisol, pain, anxiety, and depression levels, especially in adults dealing with mental health conditions (Packheiser et al., 2024).

The strongest physiological effects were seen in newborns, where touch interventions increased weight gain and lowered stress markers. Importantly, robotic or object-based touch methods yielded similar physical but lower emotional benefits compared to human-delivered interventions.

Massage therapy specifically has shown consistent effects in reducing pain, improving functional outcomes, and enhancing quality of life in diverse pain populations (Crawford et al., 2016). When compared to no treatment, the pain-reducing effect of massage was notably strong, though it appeared less effective when compared to other active therapies.

A randomized trial on cancer caregivers found that daily 15-minute back massages over a week significantly improved sleep quality and reduced blood pressure, anxiety, heart rate, and cortisol levels (Pinar & Afsar, 2015).

However, not all findings were uniformly positive. An exploratory study with Swedish employees testing mechanical massage chairs and mental training programs over eight weeks found no overall group-level changes in heart rate variability (HRV) or cortisol, although individuals with lower baseline stress (measured via systolic blood pressure) showed better responses (Van Dijk et al., 2020).

This suggests that individual stress sensitivity may determine the effectiveness of such interventions, and their preventive benefits may outweigh their therapeutic potential.