Massage Therapy

Massage therapy is the manipulation of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain.

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Massage therapy is used to help manage a health condition or enhance your wellbeing. It involves manipulating the soft tissues of the body. Massage has been practiced in most cultures, both Eastern and Western, throughout human history, and was one of the earliest tools that people used to try to relieve pain.

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Do Massages help pain?

Massage therapy has been studied for several types of pain including low-back pain, neck and shoulder pain from Osteoarthritis of the knee, and headaches. Here's what the science says:

 

Low-Back Pain

Several evaluations of massage for low-back pain have found only weak evidence that it may be helpful. 

• The agency for healthcare research and quality, in a 2016 evaluation of nondrug therapies for low-back pain, examined 20 studies that compared massage to usual care or other interventions and found that there was evidence that massage was helpful for chronic low-back pain but the strength of the evidence was low. The agency also looked at six studies that compared different types of massage but found that the evidence was low. The agency also looked at six studies that compared different types of massage but found that the evidence was insufficient to show whether any types were more effective than others.

• A 2015 review of 25 studies with a total of 3,096 participants found that in both acute and chronic low-back pain, there were short-term improvements in pain after massage therapy. However because of the quality of the studies was low, the investigators who conducted the review concluded that they had "very little confidence" that massage is an effective treatment for low-back pain.

• Clinical practise guidleines issued by ACP in 2017 included massage therapy as an option for treating acute/subacute low-back pain but did not include massage therapy among the options for treating chronic low-back pain.

 

Neck and Shoulder Pain​

Massage therapy may be helpful for neck and shoulder pain, but the benefits may only last for a short period.

• A 2013 review of 12 studies found that massage therapy was more helpful for both neck and shoulder pain than inactive therapies but was not more effective than other active therapies. For shoulder pain, massage therapy had short term benefits only.

• A 2016 review of 4 studies conducted in the US found that massage could provide short term relief of neck pain if massage sessions were long enough and frequent enough.

 

Osteoarthritis of the Knee​

The small amount of research that's been done on massage therapy for OA of the knee suggest that it may have short term benefits in relieving knee pain.

• Of 6 studies that evaluated massage therapy for OA of the knee, 5 found that it provided short term pain relief. 2 of the studies that showed pain relief involved the use of essential oils.

 

Headaches​

Only a small number of studies of massage for headaches have been completes. These studies looked at different types of massage and different types of headache, and their results are not consistent.

• A 2016 study with 64 participants evaluated 2 types of massage (lymphatic drainage & traditional massage), once a week for 8 weeks, in patients with migraine. The frequency of migraines decreased in both groups, compared with people on a waiting list.

• In a 2015 study, 56 people with tension headaches were assigned to receive massage at myofascial trigger points or an inactive treatment twice a week for 6 weeks. People who received either massage or the inactive treatment had a decrease in the frequency of headaches, but there was no difference between the two groups.

• A 2011 study evaluated the effect of adding hand massage to multimodal behaviour treatment of migraine in 83 people. Hand massage had no effect on migraine frequency.

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Can Massage be helpful for fibromyalgia symptoms?

Massage therapy may be helpful for some fibromyalgia symptoms if it's continued for long enough.

• A 2014 evaluation of 9 studies concluded that massage therapy, if continued for at least 5 weeks, improved pain, anxiety and depression in people with fibromyalgia but did not have an effect on sleep disturbance.

• A 2015 evaluation of 10 studies compared the effects of different kinds of massage therapy and found that most styles of massage had beneficial effects on quality of life in people with fibromyalgia.

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What are the risks of massage therapy?

The risk of harmful effects from massage therapy appears to be low. However, there have been rare reports of serious side effects, such as a blood clot, nerve injury, or bone fracture. Some of the reported cases have involved vigorous types of massage or patients who might be at increased risk of injury.

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Massage benefits

Many types of massage offer benefits beyond simple relaxation. Here are just a few of the health problems that may benefit from a massage. However seek medical advice before using massage for any health conditions.

• Sleep

• Immune function

• Constipation

• Anxiety

• Digestive disorders

• Nerve pain

• Postoperative care

• Scar tissue

• Soft tissue strains and injuries

• Sports injuries

• Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)