Massage is Good Medicine
Two independent clinical studies demonstrate that massage therapy eases pain and improves recovery time for people
suffering from lower back Pain
“These findings emphasize what professional massage therapists know: massage is good medicine,” said Nancy Porambo, AMTA President. “Massage therapy provided by a professional massage therapist is being increasingly viewed by physicians and their patients as an important component of integrated care. Nearly 9 of 10 American consumers
believe that massage can be effective in reducing pain. And, a growing body of clinical research continues to validate that.”
Massage Therapy Can Help Low-Back Pain
In a study1
published in the February 2014 edition of Scientific World Journal, researchers investigated whether chronic
low-back pain therapy with massage therapy alone was as effective as combining it with non-steroid anti-inflammatory
drugs. The study was conducted on 59 individuals divided into two groups, all of whom suffered from low-back pain
and were diagnosed with degenerative changes of the spine, other intervertebral disc diseases or spine pain.
In both patient groups, the pain measured was significantly reduced and the level of disability showed significant
improvement compared to the baseline. Researchers concluded massage had a positive effect on patients with
chronic low-back pain and propose that the use of massage causes fast therapeutic results and that, in practice,
it could help to reduce the use of anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of chronic low-back pain.
