Effect of relaxation technique on blood pressure in essential hypertension.

Background & objectives: For almost a century, there has been constant speculation on the relationship between life stress, the individual’s response and the blood pressure changes. Various studies have shown that actual decline in blood pressure with non invasive behaviour therapy vary widely. We studied the effectiveness of progressive muscular relaxation technique in re-establishing normalcy in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in young hypertensive subjects in Baroda. Methods: 84 hypertensive individuals were randomly divided in group Ia and group Ib of which 24 subjects in group Ia and 26 subjects in group Ib completed the study. Group Ib subjects were instructed to practice relaxation technique as per pre-recorded cassette twice daily for three months. Age and sex matched 23 normotensive subjects served as controls (group II). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured in sitting and lying down position before and after 3 months of practice. Results show a significantly higher systolic (143.1 vs 121 mmHg) and diastolic (92.13 vs 76.35 mmHg) blood pressure in hypertensive group compared to control in basal condition. After 3 months of relaxation practice systolic (137.87 vs 142.93 mmHg) blood pressure was significantly lower in experimental group Ib while diastolic blood pressure shows no significant change with relaxation practice. Compared to control the blood pressure was still higher in experimental group Ib after relaxation practice. Conclusion: The progressive muscle relaxation technique by decreasing sympathetic tone probably reduces systolic blood pressure. Thus it is found to be a valuable adjunct to the treatment of essential hypertension in young hypertensive.