Reply by Moyer: Pamela Fitch makes good points in response to my recent editorial on affective massage therapy (AMT), and I recall that when I was writing it, I wavered on whether to nominate AMT only as a subfield for research or as a subfield for research and practice. I also had, in addition to Fitch’s letter, a thought-provoking email exchange on that topic with Dr. Lesley Teitelbaum. Limit...

Massage therapy practice as well as research in massage therapy is guided by ethical principles and boundaries of professional behavior. Scientific publishing is also guided by a set of ethical standards, about which all aspiring scientific authors should be aware. Honesty, integrity, and conflicts of interest are issues in science and these issues can also impact scientific publishing. Histori...

Long-term care staff have high levels of musculoskeletal concerns. This research provided a pilot program to evaluate the efficacy of employer-funded on-site massage therapy on job satisfaction, workplace stress, pain, and discomfort. Twenty-minute massage therapy sessions were provided. Evaluation demonstrated possible improvements in job satisfaction, with initial benefits in pain severity, a...

Purpose The primary aim of the study was to determine the effects of massage therapy, delivered to post-surgery cardiothoracic patients, on pain, anxiety, relaxation and muscular tension at two different time points and compare it to an equivalent period of rest time. The secondary aims were to explore the effects of massage on heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure, feasibility of tre...

OBJECTIVE To systematically evaluate the efficacy of massage, a traditional treatment method of traditional Chinese medicine on children with asthma. METHODS Literatures from 5 databases using the date ranging from 1 January, 1990, to 13 December, 2016, were reviewed, which were all randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy on children with asthma and effect on lung function mainly...

With increases life expectancy, the incidence of undesirable manifestations of menopause has increased as well. The effects of lost ovarian function include progressive decrease in estradiol secretion, trophic changes in the breast, vasomotor symptoms, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. Insomnia, which has physiological consequences and can result in a loss of quality of life, is prevale...

Pain-related massage, important in traditional Eastern medicine, is increasingly used in the Western world. So the widening acceptance demands continual safety assessment. This review is an evaluation of the frequency and severity of adverse events (AEs) reported mainly for pain-related massage between 2003 and 2013. Relevant all-languages reports in 6 databases were identified and assessed by ...

The increase in longevity and incidence of chronic diseases reveals an increased importance in terms of public health. The oncologic illness is a debilitating and progressive pathology with need for prevention and symptomatic relief. In order to find the answer to the question: “What is the effect of massage therapy in cancer patients?” we have reviewed the empirical literature indexed in datab...