Pain Relief Using Massage Therapy

Many people popularly use massage therapy for pain relief. The main reason why is it seems to work for them. There are a number of scientific studies that prove massage works to reduce your pain. This form of treatment is certainly a great complementary, affordable, additional alternative to just taking medication. Come for a massage to help your suffering.

Massage is the most popular CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) therapy used for pain relief. There are numerous studies that show massage works to reduce headaches, abdominal, lower back, cancer patients suffering from pain and general muscle pains. It is a good compliment to other treatments doctors offer. With so much evidence available it seems that more massage should take place to reduce pain.

Deep Tissue & Swedish Massage Can Reduce Pain

Many people have used Swedish and Deep Tissue massage therapies for years to relieve pain. According to many sources this is one of the most popular reasons to get a massage. The reason people seek it out is, quite simply, it works for them. The AMTA officially states massage can reduce pain. This includes suffering less pain from headaches, your back, lower back and legs, less chronic pain and less pain intensity in general. Pain is a major symptom of suffering from many different conditions. It is something that affects quality of life in a big way. Finding affordable, alternative methods of alleviating it is very important to a lot of people in the modern world. That is where massage can come into its own.

Science Concludes That it Can Work For You

Scientific experiments have gone a long way to provide us evidence for massage working to help reduce pain. It works in many of the following studies on the majority. It is very much something that medical doctors should be looking at as a good therapy. Some of the studies pointing to people suffering less pain after massage are outlined below. These are just a few of many that prove the point. Massage can help reduce pain.

A Small Selection of the Proof

  • Moraska A at al (2008) studied those suffering from tension headaches for a median time of 7.5 years at the School of Nursing, University of Colorado. Results show the number of headache per week dropped during and after treatment. Headache intensity dropped by 30% and how long they lasted dropped too.
  • Krodel D at al (2016) studied 44 children suffering from chronic pain mainly to head, abdomen and back. Significant improvement was seen post-massage with and average pain decrease of 33%. After treatment a large number of the patients had greater range of motion, alleviation of both their tension and pain (figures for latter were 45.5% in agreement & 29.5% strongly in agreement).
  • Krasnegor J et al (2000) did a study of women with lower back pain. Results after massage showed not as much pain, better sleep, fewer signs of anxiety and depression. There was also a greater range of pain free movement along with a greater concentration of natural happiness hormones.
  • Curran J et al (2008) studied oncology (cancer) patients at Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute. Results show the marked reduction in pain, emotional and physical discomfort and fatigue after an intervention of Swedish massage treatment. This was the case regardless of the type of cancer, how old, gender and ethnicity. It worked for everyone.
  • Frey Law L. Dr et al (2008) from Program in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, The University of Iowa studied the effects of Deep Tissue massage on pain. Stretching muscles during deep tissue therapy decreased pain significantly. Also hyperalgesia (sensitivity to pain due to opioid painkiller exposure) was decreased as well. Conclusions said massage can reducing muscle pain by 25% to 50%.

 

References:

American Massage Therapy Association (2009) Massage Can Aid in Pain Relief [Online] available at https://www.amtamassage.org/statement6.html Accessed 01 09 2018

Moraska A et al (2008) Changes in Clinical Parameters in Patients with Tension-type Headache Following Massage Therapy: A Pilot Study. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19119396 Accessed 01 09 2018

Krodel D at al (2016) Effectiveness of massage therapy consultation for pediatric chronic pain [Online] available at https://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(16)00493-4/fulltext Accessed 02 09 2018

Krasnegor J et al (2000) Lower Back Pain is Reduced and Range of Motion Increased After Massage Therapy [Online] available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/00207450109149744 Accessed 01 09 2018

Curran J et al (2008) A hospital-based intervention using massage to reduce distress among oncology patients.[Online] available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18453878 Accessed 01 09 2018

Frey Law L. Dr et al (2008) Massage Reduces Pain Perception and Hyperalgesia in Experimental Muscle Pain: A Randomized, Controlled Trial [Online] available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1526590008004987 Accessed 02 09 2018

One Response

  1. Wow, what a wonderful blog. I love what you have done here. It realy is a treasure trove of massage and therapy information! Everything I have read here seems well reseached and you have a very readable, sometimes amusing tone. I’ve learned so much about the benefits of your hands on therapy for pain. I suffer from aches down my legs and mu buttocks. Maybe i really should bite the bullet and book in today? All the best, Sam

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