Being a stress based disorder, DPDR may be effectively treated by addressing the stress the body has held onto through Therapeutic Massage. Below are studies stating the efficacy of Massage Therapy and its effects on various factors such as: stress, pain, posture, and cognitive performance.

• The current study investigated the immediate neurophysiological effects of different types of massage in healthy adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Much attention has been given to the default mode network, a set of brain regions showing greater activity in the resting state. [1]
• Overall, qualitatively different types of acute massage differentially modulated activity in key regions of the DMN. These findings should have implications for better understanding how alternative treatments might affect resting state neural activity and could ultimately be important for devising new targets in the management of mood disorders. [1]
• We found that the Swedish massage treatment activated the subgenual anterior and retrosplenial/posterior cingulate cortices. This increased blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal was maintained only in the former brain region during performance of the cognitive task. [1]
• Interestingly, the reflexology massage condition selectively affected the retrosplenial/posterior cingulate in the resting state, whereas massage with the object augmented the BOLD response in this region during the cognitive task performance. [1]
• A recent fMRI study using vibrotactile stimulation on the plantar surface of the foot revealed increased activation of the inferior and posterior cingulate gyrus, along with the somatosensory cortex, insula, thalamus, caudate and cerebellum. [1]
• In effect, massage therapy would likely be affecting somatosensory regions directly, as well as modulating emotional regulatory cortical and limbic areas. [1]
• Sixty high quality and seven low quality studies were included in the review. Results demonstrate massage therapy effectively treats pain compared to sham, no treatment, and active comparators. Compared to active comparators, massage therapy was also beneficial for treating anxiety and health related quality of life. [2]
• Based on the evidence, massage therapy, compared to no treatment, should be strongly recommended as a pain management option. [2]
• Whereas modern brain imaging often demands holding body positions incongruent with everyday life, posture governs both neural activity and cognitive performance. Across numerous experiments, posture reliably influences brain data, core physiology, and cognitive performance. [3]