Clinical Evidence That Massage Can Ease Back Pains

A clinical trial instigated to prove the benefits of massage in easing back ache gave no sufficient evidence that massage is instrumental in relieving aches associated with back pain.

Massage is a form of therapy that eases the mind and muscles thus bringing about relaxation. Pain threshold can also be increased by massage. It is commonly used in Europe to ease the pain associated with low back ache.

In the experiment four types of control groups were used. They included spinal manipulation, electrical stimulation, corset, traction, balneotherapy and the last group received no treatment. In the study massage was described as manual muscular and soft tissue massage of the lower back. The experiment included controlled clinical trials, cases of any form of low back pain were inclusive, and there was a group that received massage as the only form of treatment.

Description of patient population involved with back ache was non-specific, uncomplicated acute, uncomplicated acute, unspecified acute, and acute or chronic. One finding concluded massage was inferior to chiropractic practice in case of uncomplicated-acute. There was no significant difference in massages and control treatments. Massage was reported to better in case where the patient received no other form treatment.

It was concluded the experiment was of poor quality and lacked validity as the study was small and had methodological flaws. Due to the nature of the study it was impossible to conclusively tell the effectiveness of massage in treatment of lower back pain.