" WE MAKE NO HARM"

Saturday, July 7, 2012

MASSAGE AND LOW BACK PAIN

In an article that I found in Science Daily. I found it very interesting to share with all of you.

Massage Eases Low Back Pain in Randomized Controlled Trial

" ScienceDaily (July 4, 2011) — Massage therapy helps ease chronic low back pain and improve function, according to a randomized controlled trial that the Annals of Internal Medicine will publish in its July 5 issue. The first study to compare structural and relaxation (Swedish) massage, the trial found that both types of massage worked well, with few side effects.

 

"We found that massage helps people with back pain to function even after six months," said trial leader Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute. Better function means they are more able to work, take care of themselves, and be active.
"This is important because chronic back pain is among the most common reasons people see doctors and alternative practitioners, including massage therapists," Dr. Cherkin added. "It's also a common cause of disability, absenteeism, and 'presenteeism,' when people are at work but can't perform well."
The trial enrolled 400 Group Health Cooperative patients who had had low back pain for at least three months. Their pain was "nonspecific," meaning with no identified cause. They were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: structural massage, relaxation massage, or usual care. Usual care was what they would have received anyway, most often medications. The hour-long massage treatments were given weekly for 10 weeks.
At 10 weeks, more than one in three patients who received either type of massage -- but only one in 25 patients who got usual care -- said their back pain was much better or gone. Also at 10 weeks, a questionnaire showed nearly twice as many massage patients (around two thirds) as usual-care patients (more than one third) were functioning significantly better than at the trial's outset. Patients in the massage groups spent fewer days in bed, were more active, and used less anti-inflammatory medication than did those with 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.
The bottom line: "We found the benefits of massage are about as strong as those reported for other effective treatments: medications, acupuncture, exercise, and yoga," Dr. Cherkin said. "And massage is at least as safe as other treatment options. So people who have persistent back pain may want to consider massage as an option."
Prior studies of massage for back pain had tested only structural forms of massage, not relaxation massage. But relaxation (also called Swedish) massage is the most widely available and is taught in massage schools. It aims to promote a feeling of relaxation throughout the body. By contrast, structural massage involves identifying and focusing on specific pain-related "soft tissues" (like muscles and ligaments). It requires extra training and may be more expensive -- but more likely to be covered by health insurance plans -- than relaxation massage.
"The massage therapists assumed structural massage would prove more effective than relaxation massage," said Dr. Cherkin's colleague Karen J. Sherman, PhD, MPH, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute. "They were surprised when patients in the relaxation group got so much relief from their back pain."
Next steps include figuring out whether the structural and relaxation massages were equally effective for the same -- or for different -- reasons:
  • Structural or relaxation massage, or both, might have specific effects, such as stimulating tissue or calming the central nervous system.
  • Either or both might work through "nonspecific effects" that may promote a person's ability to play an active role in their own healing. Possible nonspecific effects include: being touched; spending time in a relaxing environment; receiving care from a therapist who seems caring; getting advice on caring for yourself, such as exercises to do on your own; or becoming more aware of your own body, so you're better able to avoid triggers for your back pain.
  • Some combination of specific and nonspecific effects might be at play.
Drs. Cherkin and Sherman's co-authors are Assistant Investigator Andrea J. Cook, PhD, of Group Health Research Institute and the University of Washington; Biostatisticians Robert Wellman, MS, and Eric A. Johnson, MS, Project Manager Janet Erro, RN, MN, and Analyst/Programmer Kristin Delaney, MPH, of Group Health Research Institute; Janet Kahn, PhD, of the University of Vermont School of Medicine in Burlington; and Richard A. Deyo, MD, MPH, of Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded this study."

Thursday, April 26, 2012

MASSAGE


MASSAGE
Massage involves working and acting on the body with pressure – structured, unstructured, stationary, or moving – tension, motion, or vibration, done manually or with mechanical aids. Target tissues may include muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, skin, joints, or other connective tissue, as well as lymphatic vessels, or organs of the gastrointestinal system. Massage can be applied with the hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearm, and feet. Massage is the working of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue using various techniques, to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being.
Massage is an instinctive and is a natural response to rub when aches and pains.
Archeological founds have shown evidence of cave paintings (15,000 BC) that appears to be the use of healing touch.
As early as 3000 BC Chinese have found records of the practice of massage. (200 to 101 BC)  and (AD 1 to 100) massage take place in the beginning of Chinese medicine. Acupuncture then was mention later on the 90 BC.
With the knowledge of massage and acupuncture  the Chinese developed a style called Amma (the precursor or the grandparent of all massage techniques).
Hippocrates the father of modern Western medicine  wrote in 460 BC that "The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing or friction".
In the United States Massage started to become popular by the middle part of the 19th century (1856) and was introduced by two New York physicians , the Taylor’s brothers, based on Per Henrik Ling's techniques. Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839) a Swedish physiologist and gymnastics instructor. Father of the Swedish massage.
The word MASSAGE comes from the French massage "friction of kneading" others also attributed to Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle" or from Latin massa meaning "mass, dough. In any case the French have translated many Chinese books on massage and that would probably explain the French terminology for the primary massage techniques (effleurage, petrissage, tapotement, etc.)
In modern times massage have become more and more important in clinical and therapeutic practices due to the obvious preventive and curative benefits  to the body and mind.

"SWEDISH MASSAGE uses five styles of long, flowing strokes to massage. The five basic strokes are effleurage (sliding or gliding), petrissage (kneading), tapotement (rhythmic tapping), friction (cross fiber) and vibration/shaking. Swedish massage has shown to be helpful in reducing pain, joint stiffness, and improving function in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee over a period of eight weeks. It has also been shown to be helpful in individuals with poor circulation. The development of Swedish massage is often  credited to Per Henrik Ling, though the Dutch practitioner Johan Georg Mezger adopted the French names to denote the basic strokes. The term "Swedish" massage is actually only recognized in English, Québécois or Dutch speaking countries. Elsewhere the style is referred to as CLASSIC MASSAGE".

Monday, November 7, 2011

BENEFITS OF MASSAGE

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MASSAGE?

IT'S SIMPLE, MASSAGE HELP AND HAVE A VERY POSITIVE EFFECT IN THE FOLLOWING SYSTEMS:
*CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
*LYMPHATIC AND IMMUNE SYSTEM
*SKIN AND RELATED STRUCTURES
*NERVOUS AND ENDOCRINE SYSTEMS
*MUSCLES
*CONNECTIVE TISSUES
*RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
*URINARY SYSTEM AND MANY OTHERS
- we'll discuss each of these systems in future post-

In addition, massage help in reducing fatigue and help in increasing vigor. Very often clients experience sense of renewed energy after massage.
Reduces post traumatic stress and job-related stress.
Improves sleep patterns, clients who have had massage therapy experience much better and deeper sleep.
Decreases feeling of anger. Clients feel more relax and less tense.
Improves mood and mental alertness.
Improve self-esteem, dually individuals who received and who gave massages have improved self-esteem.
Reduces touch aversion and touch sensitivity due to traumatic and violent abused experiences and also for those who experience hypersensitivity to touch.
Increase academic performance due to the effect on mental alertness.
Satisfies emotional needs, clients satisfied their emotional needs for attention, acceptance, caring, and nurturing  proper of human needs.