Effect of ice massage to head and spine on blood pressure and heart rate variability in patients with hypertension: A pilot study

Abstract

Background: Ice massage is one of the common hydrotherapeutic procedures. The current study is first of its kind, conducted to evaluate the effect of ice massage to head and spine on blood pressure and heart rate variability in patients with hypertension. Materials and Methods: Fifteen hyper-tensive subjects with the mean ± stan-dard deviation (SD) age of 48.87 ± 11.17 yrs were recruited and underwent only one session of ice massage to head and spine for 20 min. Blood pressure and heart rate variability were assessed before and im-mediately after the intervention. Results: Results of this study showed a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (p =