Shiatsu 'Massage Machine' Linked to Artery Problem
Mon May 6, 5:38 PM ET
By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In two cases, patients developed a potentially life-threatening arterial problem, possibly caused by a type of shiatsu "massage machine," researchers report. Shiatsu is a type of therapeutic massage in which a person typically massages acupuncture pressure points using the thumbs and palm.
In both cases, patients damaged the arteries that supply blood to the head after using a shiatsu "machine" in which they laid down and put their heads between two heavy rotating balls, said Dr. Lynne P. Taylor of the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.

Taylor said the damage seemed to occur when the balls were twisting and putting pressure on the patients' necks. She stressed that this type of injury would be unlikely to occur in the hands of a trained shiatsu professional.

Taylor's patient, a 53-year-old man, came to her after using the machine for about 30 minutes, and then falling asleep. When he woke up, he had a droopy eyelid and ringing in his ears.

Taylor told Reuters Health that these symptoms resulted from a condition known as dissection of the carotid artery. The carotid artery has a few layers, she explained, and when the balls put pressure on the rough, outer layer, it was akin to rubbing against an onion--the outermost layer begins to pull away from the others. In the case of the carotid artery, the space created by the separation of the outer layer then fills with blood, in turn reducing how much blood passes through the artery to the head.

"You could possibly have a stroke from this," Taylor cautioned.
The doctor explained that some of the symptoms the patients reported resulted from damage to nerve fibers that surround the carotid artery.

In the case of the second patient, a 48-year-old woman treated by Taylor's co-author Dr. Michael A. Elliott, the patient had a headache and droopy eyelid a few days after using the shiatsu massager for about 10 minutes.

Taylor said that in both patients, the arteries have cleared to allow normal blood flow to the brain. But the nerve damage that caused their droopy eyelids is permanent.

Carotid artery dissection can also result from a number of seemingly nontraumatic events, Taylor added, such as playing tennis, or shaving. As such, she said the damage in these two patients could have been caused by something other than the machine. However, given the nature of these machines, she said she suspected similar injuries have occurred in other patients, but have not yet been reported.

And she stressed that this complication would be highly unlikely to occur in the hands of a trained Shiatsu professional, who understands individual anatomy and can respond to feedback from the patient about what hurts.

Responding to the case report, presented in the recent issue of Neurology, Pamela Ferguson, a nationally certified zen-shiatsu practitioner and instructor, agreed that it relates in no way to the activities of a trained shiatsu professional. She added that she is "shocked" at some of the products that are coming onto the market and that she would never recommend a similar device to any one.

"I would never prescribe it for anybody," she said.

SOURCE: Neurology 2002;58:1302-1304.

- Lyn Yancha, LMP
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