BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Evidence suggests that para-athletes are injured more often than able-bodied athletes. The benefits of massage therapy for these disabled athletes are yet to be explored. This paper documents the process followed for creating a massage program for elite paracycling athletes with the goal to assess effects on recovery, rest, performance, and quality of life both on and off...

OBJECTIVE To systematically investigate the treatment effects of massage therapy in depressed people by incorporating data from recent studies. DATA SOURCES A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of massage therapy in depressed people was conducted using published studies from PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL electronic database from inception until July 2008. The terms us...

Previous reviews of massage therapy for chronic, non-malignant pain have focused on discrete pain conditions. This article aims to provide a broad overview of the literature on the effectiveness of massage for a variety of chronic, non-malignant pain complaints to identify gaps in the research and to inform future clinical trials. Computerized databases were searched for relevant studies includ...

BACKGROUND Concussion, its recognition, diagnosis, and treatment is a growing public health issue. Massage practitioners who specialize in rehabilitation deal with a variety of injury cases that involve concussion, including those incurred by falls, motor vehicle incidents, and sports injuries. PURPOSE This case study presents a unique massage therapy approach to concussion trauma treatment. ...

Various types of massages are reported to relieve stress, pain, and anxiety which are beneficial for rehabilitation; however, more comprehensive studies are needed to understand the mechanism of massage therapy. In this study, we investigated the effect of massage therapy, alone or in combination with infrared heating, on 3 different aspects: physical, physiological, and psychological. Twenty-e...

BACKGROUND Cancer patients and survivors regularly feel anxious about cancer recurrence or death, even after the conclusion of medical treatment, and they are often highly physiologically and psychologically stressed. Massage therapy is one of the most widely used complementary and alternative therapies used in the hope of alleviating such stress and physical and psychological complaints and to...

BACKGROUND Spinal fusion and decompression surgery of the lumbar spine are common procedures for problems such as disc herniations. Various studies for postoperative interventions have been conducted; however, no massage therapy studies have been completed. PURPOSE The objective of this study is to determine if massage therapy can beneficially treat pain and dysfunction associated with lumbar...

OBJECTIVE Rhythmical massage therapy is used in 24 countries but has not yet been studied in outpatient settings. The objective was to study clinical outcomes in patients receiving rhythmical massage therapy for chronic diseases. DESIGN Prospective 4-year cohort study. SETTING Thirty-six (36) medical practices in Germany. PARTICIPANTS Eighty-five (85) outpatients referred to rhythmical ma...

BACKGROUND Pain management remains a critical issue for hospitals and is receiving the attention of hospital accreditation organizations. The acute care setting of the hospital provides an excellent opportunity for the integration of massage therapy for pain management into the team-centered approach of patient care. PURPOSE AND SETTING This preliminary study evaluated the effect of the use o...