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Healing massage : an A-Z guide for more than forty medical conditions for professional and home use
Part I. Massage techniques. Introduction ; Hand massage ; Foot massage ; Head massage ; Back massage -- Part II. An A-Z of medical conditions. Ankylosing spondylitis ; Anxiety disorders ; Asthma ; Cancer ; Cerebral palsy ; Cervical and thoracic spondylosis ; Chronic fatigue syndrome / Myalgic encephalopathy ; Constipation ; Cramp ; Down syndrome ; Dupuytren's contracture ; Eating disorders ; Emotional issues and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ; Fibromyalgia ; Foot drop ; Frozen shoulder ; Gynecological issues ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Lumbar spondylosis ; Menopause ; Multiple Sclerosis ; Muscular Dystrophy ; Parkinson's disease ; Peripheral neuropathy ; Plantar fasciitis ; Pregnancy ; Raynaud's syndrome ; Repetitive strain injuries ; Restless legs syndrome ; Rotator cuff injury ; Scar tissue ; Sciatica ; Scoliosis ; Shin splint syndrome ; Sinusitis ; Temporomandibular joint disorders ; Tendonitis and Tenosynovitis ; Tennis elbow ; Tension headaches ; Trigeminal neuralgia ; Whiplash ; Winged scapula ; Wrist-drop.
Book
Effects of Psychoactive Massage in Outpatients with Depressive Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Mixed-Methods Study
The clinical picture of depressive disorders is characterized by a plethora of somatic symptoms, psychomotor retardation, and, particularly, anhedonia. The number of patients with residual symptoms or treatment resistance is high. Touch is the basic communication among humans and animals. Its application professionally in the form of, e.g., psychoactive massage therapy, has been shown in the past to reduce the somatic and mental symptoms of depression and anxiety. Here, we investigated the effects of a specially developed affect-regulating massage therapy (ARMT) vs. individual treatment with a standardized relaxation procedure, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), in 57 outpatients with depression. Patients were given one ARMT or PMR session weekly over 4 weeks. Changes in somatic and cognitive symptoms were assessed by standard psychiatric instruments (Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and the Bech–Rafaelsen–Melancholia–Scale (BRMS)) as well as a visual analogue scale. Furthermore, oral statements from all participants were obtained in semi-structured interviews. The findings show clear and statistically significant superiority of ARMT over PMR. The results might be interpreted within various models. The concept of interoception, as well as the principles of body psychotherapy and phenomenological aspects, offers cues for understanding the mechanisms involved. Within a neurobiological context, the significance of C-tactile afferents activated by special touch techniques and humoral changes such as increased oxytocin levels open additional ways of interpreting our findings.
Journal Article
The Acute Effects of a Percussive Massage Treatment with a Hypervolt Device on Plantar Flexor Muscles' Range of Motion and Performance
Handheld percussive massage treatment has gained popularity in recent years, for both therapeutic use and in sports practice. It is used with the goals of increasing flexibility and performance, but also to accelerate recovery. However, until now, there has been no scientific evidence, which proves such effects. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 5-min percussion treatment of the calf muscles on range of motion (ROM) and maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) torque of the plantar flexor muscles. Sixteen healthy male volunteers (mean ± SD; 27.2 ± 4.2 years, 1.79 ± 0.05 m, 79.4 ± 9.1 kg) were tested on two separate days with either a 5-min massage treatment of the calf muscles with a Hypervolt device or the control condition (sitting only). Before and after the treatments, dorsiflexion ROM and MVC torque of the plantar flexor muscles were measured with a dynamometer. Maximum dorsiflexion ROM increased with a large magnitude following the massage treatment by 5.4° (+18.4%; p = 0.002,
= 1.36), while there was no change in the control group. Moreover, MVC torque did not change following both the massage treatment and the control treatment. Similar to a conventional massage by a therapist, ROM can be increased by a handheld percussive massage treatment without having an effect on muscle strength.
Journal Article
Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization and percussion massage therapy in cervical disc herniation: a randomized controlled study
Background
Cervical disc herniation (CDH) is a common musculoskeletal disorder characterized by chronic neck pain, impaired proprioception, kinesiophobia, and functional limitations, often requiring multimodal conservative care. Myofascial techniques, including Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) and percussion massage therapy (PMT), have emerged as supportive physiotherapy interventions. This randomized controlled trial compared the effects of IASTM and PMT on pain, disability, kinesiophobia, and proprioceptive function in individuals with CDH.
Methods
In this double-blinded RCT, 57 participants with CDH were randomly allocated to Conventional Therapy (CT), CT + PMT, or CT + IASTM (
n
= 19 each). Interventions were delivered three times per week for 3 weeks. PMT was applied with a percussion massage device (33–40 Hz) for 3 min to each target muscle group (trapezius, levator scapulae, cervical paravertebral) using longitudinal strokes. IASTM used stainless-steel tools on trapezius, splenius, and suboccipital muscles, with sweep and fan techniques at 30°–60°, for 9 min per session. Primary outcomes were pain (VAS) and disability (NDI); secondary outcomes included kinesiophobia (TSK) and joint position sense (JPS). Between-group differences were analyzed using ANCOVA with baseline values as covariates.
Results
All groups showed significant within-group improvements across all outcomes (
p
< 0.001). Compared to CT, both PMT and IASTM produced greater improvements in pain, kinesiophobia, and JPS (
p
< 0.001). VAS-rest reductions were − 4.00 ± 0.89 (d = 4.49) for IASTM, − 3.38 ± 1.95 (d = 1.74) for PMT, and − 2.13 ± 1.49 (d = 1.43) for CT. VAS-activity decreased by − 4.89 ± 1.44 (d = 3.41) for IASTM and − 3.89 ± 1.84 (d = 2.11) for PMT. NDI improved by − 11.47 ± 4.23 (d = 2.71) in IASTM, − 12.11 ± 6.86 (d = 1.76) in PMT, and − 6.63 ± 5.47 (d = 1.21) in CT, all exceeding the MCID threshold of 7.5 points. JPS-flexion improved by − 3.80 ± 1.61 (d = 2.36) in IASTM, − 3.67 ± 1.34 (d = 2.73) in PMT, and − 1.09 ± 0.84 (d = 1.29) in CT. Similar patterns occurred for extension, right rotation, and left rotation. Overall, IASTM and PMT yielded comparable improvements, suggesting similar clinical efficacy.
Conclusions
IASTM and PMT provide added benefits over conventional therapy alone in managing CDH, especially in reducing pain and kinesiophobia and enhancing proprioception. Both can be effectively integrated into conservative rehabilitation programs targeting sensorimotor deficits in CDH.
Trial registration
Prospectively registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov registry (NCT06903000) on 24/03/2025.
Journal Article
Effects of different treatments on pain, functional disability, position sense and range of motion in elite bodybuilders with chronic low back pain
Back pain is one of the major global challenges and is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders occurring in 80% of people at least once in their lifetime. Therefore, the need to find appropriate treatment methods for this issue is very important. The objective is to examine the short-term and acute effects of a treatment session with dry needling, massage therapy, stretching exercises and Kinesio tape on pain, functional disability, position sense and range of motion in elite bodybuilders with non-specific chronic low back pain. The sample of this quasi-experimental study consisted of 48 bodybuilders with non-specific chronic low back pain (all male, mean age = 25.96 ± 2.18 years; mean weight = 74.45 ± 4.51 kg; mean height = 173.88 ± 3.74 cm; mean BMI = 24.60 ± 0.74 kg/m
2
) who randomly were placed in 4 dry needling, massage therapy, stretching exercises and Kinesio tape groups. The duration of each intervention was 30 min. The dependent variables in this study included the massage range of motion, position sense tests and visual pain scale that were taken separately from each subject in pretest, posttest (acute effect) and follow-up test (72 h after posttest; short-term effect). The results of a 4 (groups) × 3 (time) the mixed ANOVAs showed that pain in the short-term phase was significantly lower in the dry needling group than in the stretching and massage groups (
P
< 0.05). Also in the acute effect phase, the flexion range of motion was significantly lower in the dry needling group than in the massage group (
P
< 0.05). Furthermore, the two groups of stretching and massage exercises showed significantly greater range of motion (
P
< 0.05). Other comparisons were not significant (
P
> 0.05). The findings of the study showed that both massage and stretching treatment have higher acute effects, while dry needling treatment was more effective in follow up. On the other hand, these findings show that these treatment methods can have immediate and lasting positive effects in improving the performance in elite bodybuilders with non-specific chronic low back pain.
Journal Article
Massage therapist : providing relief & relaxation
Learn about job duties for massage therapists, how to train for the field, key skills for success in the career, and the employment outlook for the profession.
Book
Effects of massage therapy on pain and anxiety intensity in patients with burns: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to examine the effects of massage therapy on pain and anxiety intensity in patients with burns. A comprehensive, systematic search was conducted in various international electronic databases, such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Persian electronic databases such as Iranmedex, and Scientific Information Database using keywords extracted from Medical Subject Headings such as ‘Massage therapy’, ‘Musculoskeletal manipulations’, ‘Acute pains’, ‘Burning pain’, and ‘Burn’ from the earliest to October 17, 2022. Cochran's tool is used to check the risk of bias for randomised clinical trial (RCT) articles. The methodological index for non‐randomised studies was used to assess the risk of bias in quasi‐experimental studies. STATA version 14 software was used to perform the meta‐analysis. A 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to determine statistical significance. Heterogeneity was investigated with I2. A P‐value less than .1 was considered statistically significant for publication bias value. A total of 733 patients with burns were included in seven studies. Five studies had an RCT design and two studies had a quasi‐experimental design. The duration of the study was reported in five studies, with a mean of 42.40 weeks. The duration of the intervention was reported in seven studies with a mean of 22.86 minutes. The results of the meta‐analysis showed using various types of massage therapy interventions significantly reduced pain intensity in the intervention group compared with the control group (weighted mean difference: −2.08, 95% CI: −2.55 to −1.62, Z = 8.77, I2: 67.1%, P < .001). Massage therapy intervention significantly reduced the intensity of anxiety in burn patients (standard mean difference: −7.07, 95% CI: −10.13 to −4.01, Z = 4.53, I2: 98.2, P < .001). Overall, the present systematic review and meta‐analysis showed that massage therapy can reduce the intensity of pain and anxiety in burn patients. Therefore, it is recommended that health managers and policymakers pay special attention to massage therapy as a simple, low‐cost, and efficient non‐pharmacological treatment to relieve pain and anxiety in burn patients.
Journal Article