A study was carried out to update knowledge about massage in managing chronic stress at the international level through a documentary and literature review of scientific articles published until December 2015. The databases consulted were Medline, Scopus and Scielo. The keywords ‘estrés’, ‘stress’, ‘masaje’ and ‘massage’ were used in Spanish and English. 32 studies were found, 1 of them meta-analysis, 1 review and 30 for application at the various levels of experimentation (pre, quasi, and experimental) in determining the effectiveness of massage in coping with stress at the international level. These were analyzed in three stages: studies carried out in the 20th century; and of the 21st century, in the periods from 2000 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2015. The studies found suggest that massage applied in different ways is effective in managing chronic stress and its negative effects.