WASHINGTON — July 17, 2011 —Humans are designed to work hard, but our backs are prone to injury. Overexertion injuries cost employers 13.4 billion dollars annually and back injuries lead to more lost days from work than any other kind of injury or illness.
New research shows that preventing long term disability and loss of income from low back pain could be greatly diminished by getting a therapeutic massage.
Study leader Daniel Cherkin PhD, a senior associate at Group Health Research Institute stated:
"...This topic and study is important because chronic back pain is among the most common reasons people see doctors and alternative practitioners, including massage therapists. It's also a common cause of disability, absenteeism, and 'presenteeism,' when people are at work but can't perform well..."
Cherkin says massage helped study participants with low back pain that was non-specific, even after six months, allowing them to remain active and productive.
Enrollees for the current study included 400 Group Health Cooperative patients with back pain for at least 3 months.
Each participant either received a one hour structural or relaxation massage once a week for 10 weeks or usual care – mostly medication treatment.
1/3 of massage patients showed improvement compared to 1 in 25 receiving ‘standard’ care
After ten weeks, one in three patients receiving massage improved or were pain free compared to one in 25 given ‘usual care’.
"As expected with most treatments, the benefits of massage declined over time," Dr. Cherkin said. "But at six months after the trial started, both types of massage were still associated with improved function." After one year, the benefits of massage were no longer significant."
Deep Tissue/therapeutic massage is more likely to be covered by some insurance companies,say the researchers, who also expected to find it more beneficial than Swedish or relaxation massage.
"The massage therapist s were surprised when patients in the relaxation massage group got so much relief from their back pain", said Cherkin.
The fact of putting the body in deep relaxation through touch/relaxing massage and a nuturing and relaxed environment then can put the body in an optimal repair state. This can allow injuries to repair faster and in a more efficient manner, making relaxation massage beneficial for pain management and injury repair along with general relaxation.
-Annals of Internal Medicine: July 5, 2011 vol. 155
"A Comparison of the Effects of 2 Types of Massage and Usual Care on Chronic Low Back Pain"
Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD www.annals.org
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