Massage News - August 2013
Massage News - August 2013
The Effectiveness of Home-Based Cupping Massage Compared to Progressive Muscle Relaxation in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain
Chronic neck pain is a major public health problem with very few evidence-based complementary treatment options. This study aimed to test the efficacy of 12 weeks of a partner-delivered home-based cupping massage, compared to the same period of progressive muscle relaxation in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain. Patients were randomly assigned to self-directed cupping massage or progressive muscle relaxation. They were trained and asked to undertake the assigned treatment twice weekly for 12 weeks. Primary outcome measure was the current neck pain intensity (0–100 mm visual analog scale; VAS) after 12 weeks. Secondary outcome measures included pain on motion, affective pain perception, functional disability, psychological distress, wellbeing, health-related quality of life, pressure pain thresholds and adverse events. Sixty one patients (54.1±12.7 years; 73.8%female) were randomized to cupping massage (n = 30) or progressive muscle relaxation (n = 31). After treatment, both groups showed significantly less pain compared to baseline however without significant group differences. Significant effects in favor of cupping massage were only found for wellbeing and pressure pain thresholds. In conclusion, cupping massage is no more effective than progressive muscle relaxation in reducing chronic non-specific neck pain. Both therapies can be easily used at home and can reduce pain to a minimal clinically relevant extent. Cupping massage may however be better than PMR in improving well-being and decreasing pressure pain sensitivity but more studies with larger samples and longer follow-up periods are needed to confirm these results.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0065378 Comparison of Massage Based on the Tensegrity Principle and Classic Massage in Treating Chronic Shoulder Pain.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of classic massage to massage based on the tensegrity principle for patients with chronic idiopathic shoulder pain.
METHODS: Thirty subjects with chronic shoulder pain symptoms were divided into 2 groups, 15 subjects received classic (Swedish) massage to tissues surrounding the glenohumeral joint and 15 subjects received the massage using techniques based on the tensegrity principle. The tensegrity principle is based on directing treatment to the painful area and the tissues (muscles, fascia, and ligaments) that structurally support the painful area, thus treating tissues that have direct and indirect influence on the motion segment. Both treatment groups received 10 sessions over 2 weeks, each session lasted 20 minutes. The McGill Pain Questionnaire and glenohumeral ranges of motion were measured immediately before the first massage session, on the day the therapy ended 2 weeks after therapy started, and 1 month after the last massage.
RESULTS: Subjects receiving massage based on the tensegrity principle demonstrated statistically significance improvement in the passive and active ranges of flexion and abduction of the glenohumeral joint. Pain decreased in both massage groups.
CONCLUSIONS: This study showed increases in passive and active ranges of motion for flexion and abduction in patients who had massage based on the tensegrity principle. For pain outcomes, both classic and tensegrity massage groups demonstrated improvement. Reference: J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2013 Jul 25.
The Effects of Slow-Stroke Back Massage on Minutes of Nighttime Sleep in Persons With Dementia and Sleep Disturbances
Purpose: This pilot study tested the effects of a 3-minute slow-stroke back massage (SSBM) on total minutes of nighttime sleep on persons with dementia with sleep disturbances aged 65 years or older in the nursing home.
Design: Pilot randomized controlled trial. Methods: Participants were randomized to an intervention group (n = 20) who received the 3-minute SSBM or a usual care control condition group (n = 20) who received usual bedtime care. Forty-eight hours of actigraphy data was recorded and analyzed on sleep variables at baseline and postintervention.
Findings: Descriptive statistics showed a 36-minute increase on minutes of nighttime sleep in the SSBM intervention group (46.1 minutes) compared with the control group (10.32 minutes). Analysis of covariance did not reveal significant differences between the intervention and control groups on minutes of nighttime sleep, F(1, 37) = 1.90, p = .18, partial η2 = .05, or on other sleep variables.
Conclusions: Dose-finding studies are needed to determine the duration of SSBM for sleep promotion. Findings from this pilot study suggest that SSBM may be an effective nursing intervention for sleep in persons with dementia in the nursing home, but further testing is needed to provide definitive results.
The Effects of Slow-Stroke Back Massage on Minutes of Nighttime Sleep in Persons With Dementia and Sleep Disturbances in the Nursing Home A Pilot Study Melodee Harris, PhD, APN, GNP-BC J Holist Nurs. 2012 Dec;30(4):255-63. doi: 10.1177/0898010112455948. Epub 2012 Sep 24.
http://jhn.sagepub.com/content/30/4/255.short Treatment effects of massage therapy in depressed people
OBJECTIVE: To systematically investigate the treatment effects of massage therapy in depressed people by incorporating data from recent studies.
DATA SOURCES: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of massage therapy in depressed people was conducted using published studies from PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL electronic database from inception until July 2008. The terms used for the search were derived from medical subheading term (MeSH) massage combined with MeSH depression. Hand searching was also checked for bibliographies of relevant articles. Retrieval articles were constrained to RCTs/clinical trials and human subjects. No language restrictions were imposed.
STUDY SELECTION: We included 17 studies containing 786 persons from 246 retrieved references. Trials with other intervention, combined therapy, and massage on infants or pregnant women were excluded.
DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently performed initial screen and assessed quality indicators by Jadad scale. Data were extracted on publication year, participant characteristics, and outcomes by another single reviewer.
DATA SYNTHESIS: All trials showed positive effect of massage therapy on depressed people. Seventeen RCTs were of moderate quality, with a mean quality score of 6.4 (SD = 0.85). The pooled standardized mean difference in fixed- and random-effects models were 0.76 (95% CI, 0.61-0.91) and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.52-0.93), respectively. Both indicated significant effectiveness in the treatment group compared with the control group. The variance between these studies revealed possible heterogeneity (tau(2) = 0.06, Cochran chi-squared(16) = 25.77, P =.06).
CONCLUSIONS: Massage therapy is significantly associated with alleviated depressive symptoms. However, standardized protocols of massage therapy, various depression rating scales, and target populations in further studies are suggested.
Reference: Hou WH, Chiang PT, Hsu TY, Chiu SY, Yen YC The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry [2010, 71(7):894-901] The Effectiveness of a Gastrocnemius/Soleus Stretching Program as a Therapeutic Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis.
Injury to the plantar fascia, whether acute or chronic, is common among many populations. A conventional multiple treatment approach is commonly administered by health care providers, consisting of controlling inflammation, management of pain, and promotion of healing. Frequently, the initial treatment for plantar fasciitis is targeted at increasing dorsiflexion ROM by stretching the gastroc-soleus musculature. It has been theorized that inflexibility of the gastroc-soleus complex can lead to excessive pronation and overcompensation of the plantar fascia at the first MTP joint, therefore increasing the stress at the medial calcaneal insertion. Therefore, it is deemed that gastrocnemius/soleus stretches are a beneficial treatment in the initial stage of a plantar fasciitis treatment or rehabilitation program. J Sport Rehabil. 2013 May 22.
