Massage therapy for lower back pain

A study by Canadian Michelle Preyde examined 98 adults with sub-acute low back pain. They were divided into four groups. One group received comprehensive massage therapy; one group received soft tissue manipulation only; one group had postural education and remedial exercise only; and one group received a sham treatment. All received 6 half-hour treatments. After treatment the massage therapy group had better function, and less pain than the other groups. A month following treatment 63% of the massage therapy group still reported no pain compared with 27% in the soft tissue manipulation group, 14% in the remedial exercise group and 0% in the sham laser therapy group.

Drs. Cherkin and Eisenberg in the United States published a randomized trial comparing traditional Chinese medical acupuncture, therapeutic massage and self-care education for chronic low back pain. Two hundred and sixty-two patients with persistent back pain were divided into the three groups. The two treatment groups received up to 10 treatments over 10 weeks and at the end of treatment, the massage group had fewer symptoms than the self care group and had better scores on the Roland Disability scale than both the other groups. At the end of a year the massage group still had fewer symptoms than the acupuncture group and the massage group used the least medications and had the lowest costs of health care of the three groups.

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