Massage and Cardiovascular Health: A Research Inquiry

Question
Dear Michael,
   Hi :D I'm a sophmore in high school enrolled in a research class, where we make and carry out our own experiments. This year I have chosen to do an experiment involving the effect of certain factors and practices on blood pressure. Among these, I have chosen massage. My question is if I do follow through with this experiment, in what area of the body should the "subjects" be massaged, and could it be done by a machine, instead of a professional? How long should the massage last? And if there are certain types of massage, which should I use? Thank you for your help!

                                -Paul

Answer
Thank you for your question(s), Paul.  For your future awareness, this could very easily be considered a homework question which we, as experts here, are not obliged to answer.  However, since this is pretty basic for me, I will give it a go.  In respect to practices and effects on blood pressure, you would want to massage the "subject's" entire body since the blood pressure effects the entire body's circulatory system. IMHO, a machine will never replace the pressure variations a professional's hands can exert on the body.  The length of a full body massage (Swedish technique in this case for relaxation purposes) should last minimum 60 minutes to a maximum 120 minutes.

Hope that helps you.
Michael, LMT