Medline citations from 1965 to 2003 were searched for cases relating significant injury to the practice of therapeutic massage. Twelve such cases were found from over 12 million medical citations. While this number is far too small for statistical analysis of injury patterns, six recommendations for training and practice were obtainable from these reports on mechanistic grounds. A conclusion of...

E D I T O R I A L I want to open the Research section of this premier issue of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork: Research, Education, and Practice (IJTMB) with a provocative question. Does the massage therapy profession actually need re-search? To many, it may seem that it does not. Consider the following positions I have encountered that are sometimes held by propo...

Background. No in-depth qualitative research exists about the effects of therapeutic massage with children hospitalized to undergo hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The objective of this study is to describe parent caregivers' experience of the effects of massage/acupressure for their children undergoing HCT. Methods. We conducted a qualitative analysis of open-ended interviews with 15 ...

To compare the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture, massage, and Tachibana-Ryojutsu (one of Japanese traditional body balance therapy techniques (SEITAI)), on stiff shoulders, the subjects' muscle firmness, blood pressure, pulse, VAS, and body temperature were measured before and after the treatment. Forty-seven volunteer subjects gave written informed consent to participate in this study. The ...

This article describes the introduction of abdominal massage techniques by a community team as part of a total bowel management programme for people with learning disabilities. A trust-wide audit of prescribed laxative use by this client group raised concerns, and led to a more systematic approach to managing constipation in people with learning disabilities. An education programme for carers p...

Medline citations from 1965 to 2003 were searched for cases relating significant injury to the practice of therapeutic massage. Eleven such cases were found from over 12 million medical citations. While this number is far too small for statistical analysis of injury patterns, six recommendations for training and practice were obtainable from these reports on mechanistic grounds. A conclusion of...

Recent clinical evidence suggests that the therapeutic effect of massage involves the immune system and that this can be exploited as an adjunct therapy together with standard drug-based approaches. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms behind these effects exploring the immunomodulatory function of stroking as a surrogate of massage-like therapy in mice. C57/BL6 mice were stroked daily...

Some cancer patients use therapeutic massage to reduce symptoms, improve coping, and enhance quality of life. Although a meta-analysis concludes that massage can confer short-term benefits in terms of psychological wellbeing and reduction of some symptoms, additional validated randomized controlled studies are necessary to determine specific indications for various types of therapeutic massage....

F orty-two (42) percent of Americans use some form of alternative medicine, spending 21.2 billion dollars annually,1 and one of the most commonly sought alternative and complementary medicine (ACM) therapies is therapeutic massage, which was used by an estimated 11 percent of the U.S. adult population in 1998. In that year, adults made an estimated 114 million office visits to receive massage t...

BACKGROUND Despite the growing popularity of therapeutic massage in the US, little is known about the training or practice characteristics of massage therapists. The objective of this study was to describe these characteristics. METHODS As part of a study of random samples of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners, we interviewed 226 massage therapists licensed in Connecti...