E D I T O R I A L Welcome to the Practice Section of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Having served on the committee that developed this journal , I am delighted to see the first issue in electronic print. We have a new vehicle to share our knowledge and experience that is available to everyone without any fees involved—let's use it! The science and practice of mas...

Nearly 80% of women going through menopause experience some kind of clinical symptom and in 40% of cases the symptoms are sufficiently intense to lead the patient to seek medical assistance. The most common symptoms are vasomotor instability, nervousness, anxiety, irritability, depression and insomnia, all significantly detrimental to well-being. Insomnia is highly prevalent and affects between...

Swedish Massage Therapy (SMT) is known for its therapeutic relaxation effects. Hypertension is associated with stress and elevated endothelial inflammatory markers. This randomized control trial measured the effects of whole body SMT (massage group) or resting (control group) an hour weekly for four weeks on hypertensive women. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured before and af...

Background: Breast engorgement is a postpartum problem in postpartum mothers;more than two-thirds of women develop it. Therefore, various complementary medicine techniques are used to decrease severity of breast engorgement. We aimed to determine the effect of massage and acupressure on severity of breast engorgement in lactating m...

Cherkin DC, Eisenberg D, Sherman KJ, Barlow W, Kaptchuk TJ, Street J et al. Randomized Trial Comparing Traditional Chinese Medical Acupuncture, Therapeutic Massage, and Self-care Education for Chronic Low Back Pain. Arch Intern Med 2001;161(8):1081-8. Summary Two hundred and sixty-two patients aged 20 to 70 years with ‘persistent low back pain’ were randomised to receive ‘Traditional Chinese Me...

Cherkin DC, Eisenberg D, Sherman KJ, Barlow W, Kaptchuk TJ, Street J et al. Randomized Trial Comparing Traditional Chinese Medical Acupuncture, Therapeutic Massage, and Self-care Education for Chronic Low Back Pain. Arch Intern Med 2001;161(8):1081-8. Summary Two hundred and sixty-two patients aged 20 to 70 years with ‘persistent low back pain’ were randomised to receive ‘Traditional Chinese Me...