A clinical investigation on massage for prevention and treatment of recurrent respiratory tract infection in children.

The TCM therapeutic principle of "eliminating the pathogenic factors by supporting the healthy energy" was adopted in massage to treat and prevent recurrent respiratory tract infection of children. Susceptible and healthy children of the same age were used as controls. As a result, the therapeutic effect of the treatment group is significantly better than that of the controls, with all of the immunologic indexes being approximately normal when the patients were reexamined 3 and 6 months after the massage. Statistically, the difference was significant (P < 0.01). Massage has been proved very helpful in improving the general constitution, enhancing the immune functions, preventing and treating the condition, and in health care as well.