Nonsexual physical contact boosts health in young married couples, suggests recent research. Some of the couples in the study (all of whom were ages 20 to 39) were given touch training in the laboratory and then instructed to massage each other’s neck, shoulders, or forehead at home 3 times a week for 30 minutes. The massaging couples had lower blood pressure and higher levels of oxytocin, a hormone believed to have a calming effect, compared to a group of couples not instructed to use the healing powers of touch.
Source: Psychosomatic Medicine, November/December 2008