Massage Therapy Can Be a Key in Back Pain Relief
By Drs. Kay Judge and Maxine Barish- Wreden * (McClatchy Newspapers) (Article appeared
in the Albuquerque Journal 8/29/2011)
Chronic neck and back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical care in
the United States.
It accounts for a large percentage of health care dollars – in 2005, we spent close to $90
billion on medical procedures, imaging studies and medications for neck and back pain, up
from $52 billion in 1997.
In spite of all of these interventions, the percentage of people with neck and back pain
continues to escalate in the United States, and the cost of care per person also continues to
rise.
Massage therapy holds promise as an alternative treatment for low back pain. In fact, a
review in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2003 suggested that massage therapy was
superior to both chiropractic manipulation and acupuncture in relieving pain for people with
persistent nonspecific back pain (back pain that was not due to disc rupture, spinal stenosis
or similar cause). Massage therapy also was felt to reduce the overall cost of care. However,
there are many forms of massage treatment, and it has not been clear which type is most
beneficial for chronic low back pain.
A new study in the Annals of Internal medicine sheds light on this.
In this study, sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine,
researchers randomized 401 patients with nonspecific low back pain to one of three types of
treatments: structural massage therapy, relaxation massage therapy, and standard care
(placebo).
Relaxation massage, a standard technique taught in massage therapy schools, helps to relax
the tense muscles that contribute to pain. Structural massage uses a more specific approach
to release tension in the structures of the musculoskeletal system: the muscles, ligaments
and tendons. Structural massage requires additional training and may be more expensive
than relaxation massage.
The researchers speculated that patients receiving structural massage would have greater
pain relief than those getting the simpler massage.
Each of the massage groups received a weekly one-hour massage for 10 weeks; the placebo
group received usual care for people with back pain, including pain medications, muscle
relaxers and physical therapy.
Afetr 10 weeks, both massage groups noted a significant reduction in pain as well as an
improvement in their daily functioning; there was no significant difference between the two
types of massage therapy. The improvement in function seemed to last six months, but the
benefits after one year were questionable.
The authors concluded that both relaxation and structural massage were beneficial for people
with chronic nonspecific low back pain.
The bottom line here is that the type of massage you get for back pain probably doesn’t
matter that much – it may simply come down to which type of massage therapy you prefer.
The healing presence of the massage therapist (or any health care practitioner, for that
matter) may also contribute to the outcome of your massage treatment.
What else is important when considering back and neck pain? Obesity, lack of exercise and
depression al are on the rise in the United States, and all of these contribute to pain – in fact,
they probably account for the increase in back and neck pain overall.
So if you suffer from chronic back or neck pain, start with the basics – work on getting you
weight into a normal range, exercise every day and get help if you suffer from depression. If
this doesn’t do the trick, consider gifting yourself with a massage periodically – it might be
one of the best investments you make in your health and well-being.
* Drs. Kay Judge and Maxine Barish-Wreden are medical directors of a Sacramento,
California integrative medicine program.