Massage News Alert - September 2008
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Dear Bodyworkers,
There are lots of massage
information on the web now, including free online magazine, check the new format
of Soft Tissue Therapy
http://softtissuetherapy.
On the other more serious side, an online free access research journal is now available International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork You can sharpen up your research skills.
A study published recently on a prestigious British Medical Journal found that Alexander technique is effective for long-term relief from back pain, while massage only provides short-term relief. This reminds us that client's self-care and home exercise is also important. But the efficacy of just one session of massage is proven to reduce chronic pain in short-term. And scientist have identified the nerve responsible for making us feel good when being massaged. Read all these exciting stories below.
Please also check out our new range of DVDs on animal massage: we have equine and canine massage.
This newsletter is our attempt to bring you what's happening in the latest research and news on massage related issues. We sell massage videos and books so the advert is at the end of this page. Archive of our past news can be found at http://www.massage-research.com/blog/ You can search for and comment on articles. We don't just sell DVDs, we provide you with the latest information. Happy reading and stay healthy… from us at www.terrarosa.com.au
Inside this issue:
Alexander Technique offers Long-term relief for back pain
Stroking reveals pleasure nerve
Self-Massage relieves leg Pain & oedema
Single session massage relieves pain
Headaches are common in the workplace
Alexander Technique offers Long-term relief for back pain
Alexander technique lessons in combination with an exercise programme offer long-term effective treatment for chronic back pain, according to a study published on the British Medical Journal website. Back pain causes more disability than almost any other condition in Western societies, but very few effective long-term treatments are available to patients.Previous research shows that the Alexander technique and massage may help relieve back pain in the short-term, but little is known about the long-term outcomes.
A team of researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Bristol compared the effectiveness of massage, exercise and the Alexander technique for the relief of back pain over one year. Professor Little and colleagues recruited 579 patients with chronic or recurrent back pain from 64 general practices in the south and west of England. Patients were randomised to receive normal care, massage, six Alexander technique lessons, or 24 Alexander technique lessons. Half of the patients from each of the groups were also prescribed an exercise programme (brisk walking for 30 minutes per day five times a week). Patients were sent disability questionnaires at three months and one year to record which activities were limited by their back pain. For example, walking more slowly than usual or getting out of the house often.
The authors found that after one year, exercise combined with lessons in the Alexander technique significantly reduced pain and improved functioning whereas massage offered little benefit after three months. After one year of Alexander technique lessons, patients reported fewer days with back pain over the past four weeks. Patients receiving normal care reported 21 days of back pain, compared to those who received 24 lessons of Alexander technique who experienced 18 fewer days of pain. Those who had six lessons reported 10 fewer days of pain and those having massage said they had seven fewer days of pain. In addition, patients receiving Alexander technique lessons reported improved quality of life.
Interestingly, six one-to-one lessons in the Alexander technique followed by exercise had nearly as much benefit (72%) as 24 lessons in the Alexander technique alone. The researchers conclude that: “Massage is helpful in the short term…[but] the Alexander technique retained effectiveness at one year…the results should apply to most patients with chronic or recurrent back pain.”
In an accompanying editorial, Professor Maurits van Tulder from VU University in the Netherlands, says that exercise therapy has also been shown to be effective for chronic lower back pain and calls for further research to compare the Alexander technique with different types of exercise. The Alexander technique involves a personalised approach to help patients develop lifelong skills for self care to improve postural tone and muscular coordination. It is an educational technique taught to be practiced by patients on their own and is not a form of exercise.
Read the abstract BMJ-British Medical Journal (2008, August 20) here http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/337/aug19_2/a884
ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 23, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080819213029.htm
Stroking reveals pleasure nerve
A new touch-sensitive nerve fibre responsible for the sense of pleasure experienced during stroking has been described at a UK conference today. The nerves tap into a human's reward pathways, and could help explain why we enjoy grooming and a good hug, a neuroscientist has explained. His team used a stroking machine to reveal the optimal speed and pressure for the most enjoyable caress. The research was presented at the British Association Science Festival.
Mothers stroke their children, monkeys groom group members, and we all enjoy a massage, but what is it about stroking and rubbing that we find so enjoyable? "People groom because it feels good," said Professor Francis McGlone, a cognitive neuroscientist at Unilever R&D, but went on to explain that little is known about how we experience the pleasure of touch. In order to isolate the touch-sensitive nerves responsible for the pleasure experienced during stroking, Professor McGlone designed a "rotary tactile stimulator" - a high-tech stroking machine.
"We have built some very sophisticated equipment, so the stimulus [of stroking] is very repeatable. We stroke the skin [of the forearm, foreleg, and face] with a brush at different velocities, and then asked the volunteers to rate how they liked it," he explained. He also inserted microelectrodes through the skin, into a nerve, to record the neural signals running from the skin to the brain. "It is like tapping a single phone-line and listening for the chatter that comes down that line," he told the conference.
By comparing how the neural signals corresponded with how much the volunteers enjoyed the stroking, he was able to pin down people's pleasure to one set of nerves called "C-fibres". He thinks that the stroking movements are activating C-fibres, which are wired into the rewards systems in the brain, causing the release of feel-good hormones. Professor McGlone points out that these touch nerves are not responsible for the pleasure experienced from rubbing sexual organs, nor are they found in a person's palms or soles. Experiencing pleasure when grappling with tools or walking, would make both task difficult to do with any accuracy.
The Liverpool-based researcher showed that stroking speeds of about 5cm per second, while applying 2g of pressure per square cm is optimal, and gave the volunteers most pleasure.He explained that the pleasure messages are conveyed from the skin to the brain, by similar types of nerve fibres as those that transmit the sensation of pain. This is interesting as we often rub a pain to try to alleviate it. This could explain why the pain experienced by people exposed to a painful thermal stimulus, lessens when the region of the stimulus is simultaneously stroked. Stroking could be used to treat chronic pain, he suggests.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7610383.stm
Self-massage relieves leg pain & oedema
Pain and swelling of the legs can be relieved with self-massage according to South Korean researchers at the Department of Nursing, Inje University. The study was done to compare oedema and pain after completing a nurse's daily shift and to examine the effects of self leg massage which was usually used for reducing nurses' lower extremity edema and pain after their shift. They recruited 81 nurses who learned a self-massage protocol created by the researchers. The nurses massaged their own legs 15 times during three weeks.
The level of lower extremity edema was measured by ankle and calf circumference, and the pain scores were measured by using a subjective numbering rating scale. There was a statistically significant difference in lower extremity edema and pain in nurses after their shift and self leg massage. Therefore, it is proposed that standardized self leg massage should be applied as a method for nurses' lower extremity oedema and pain.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18458524
Even one session of massage therapy is effective for short-term relief from chronic pain of moderate to severe intensity, according to new research from UK. The research was reported on in the July issue of BMC Nursing. The study's aim to determine if a single session of nurse-administered massage for relief of chronic non-malignant pain and anxiety was effective.
A randomised controlled trial design was used, in which the patients were assigned to a massage or control group. The massage group received a 15 minute manual massage and the control group a 15 minute visit to talk about their pain. Adult patients attending a pain relief unit with a diagnosis of chronic pain whose pain was described as moderate or severe were eligible for the study. An observer blind to the patients' treatment group carried out assessments immediately before (baseline), after treatment and 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours later. Pain, pain relief and anxiety were assesed. 101 patients were randomised and evaluated, 50 in the massage and 51 in the control group.
The results showed that patients in the massage but not the control group had significantly less pain compared to baseline immediately after and one hour post treatment. Patients in the massage had a statistically significant reduction in anxiety compared to baseline immediately after and at 1 hour post treatment.
The researchers concluded that Massage is effective in the short term for chronic pain of moderate to severe intensity.
Massage has been shown to reduce headache pain—and a new survey shows that almost all frequent headache sufferers experience headaches while at work.
The National Headache Foundation (NHF)'s recent survey of headache sufferers found that 99 percent of respondents experience headaches while on the job. Respondents say headaches lead to missed days of work, decreased productivity, inability to concentrate, and changes in mood or behavior.
When asked what triggers headaches at work, nearly 70 percent of the respondents attributed their pain to work-related stress. A larger majority also associated bright or florescent lighting, computer glare or eye strain with their headaches.
While half of all survey respondents reported missing anywhere from one to three days of work per month because of their headaches, 66 percent of them do not report their headaches to their supervisors. When asked why, most respondents said they feel their supervisor wouldn’t be sympathetic or accommodating or they don’t want to be labeled as “needy” or “whiny.”
Additionally, 86 percent of respondents said the issue of work-related headaches has never been addressed at their place of employment. Ninety-three percent said that information on work-related headache treatment or prevention is not available through their employer.
Bali resident Susan Stein does one of the better things a person can do for their unskilled domestic staff: she teaches them to become something else. It all began casually nine years ago, when the American spa trainer began showing her security guards and gardeners how to give massages to her house guests. She later realized that the skills she was imparting could create better futures for her staff by enabling them to enter the island’s important resort industry. From this came Jari Menari (dancing fingers) — part vocational-training enterprise, part massage center and something Stein calls “my way of giving back to Bali.”
To date, Stein has put around 30 of her household staff through the program. They work in her home (and practice on Stein’s lucky friends) while being trained for up to nine months. But upon graduation, they find work at resorts on the island, stay on at Jari Menari, or work overseas (some have been hired away to work in destinations as diverse as Bermuda and Italy). A few of the best join Stein’s traveling entourage, helping her train staff at five-star resorts around the world. For more information, see www.jarimenari.com.