An increasing amount of research shows massage therapy can be a very efficient part of pain management and possibly relief. The data that was collected and the knowledge from patients that the doctors received should encourage them to advise the use of pain specialists to incorporate massage therapy into their pain management programs.
Throughout the data collected, one source stated that “massage is effective for providing long-lasting relief for patients suffering from chronic low back pain.” The next source stated that work done by Quinn, Chandler and Moraska “showed muscle-specific massage therapy is effective for reducing the incidence of chronic tension headaches.” Another source stated that “Recent studies have confirmed the findings and others indicate positive effects for massage in decreasing pain intensity among cancer patients.” The vast amount of information gathered regarding pain management in relation to massage therapy has shown that it is very effective and helpful for patients.
Massage therapy works in a direct and simple strategy: working from external sources, outer workings of pain to the primary root cause in each individual patient. Massage therapists use a holistic approach, as opposed to a traditional approach, focusing on the entire body and its relationship to tissue. With a traditional approach a doctor or caregiver would focus only on the site of the pain.
Another benefit of massage therapy is how it helps patient’s awareness of their bodies and familiarize them with the pain they experience in a different way using human touch. Human touch is especially pronounced for women facing mastectomies because they are losing soft tissue that can be painful but massage therapy can help them feel comfortable with their bodies. The comfort level they experience with their massage therapist improves their confidence and allows them to better deal with pain. There are various other forms of massage that focus on lymph drainage and muscle pain, as well as other pain management therapies. With individual patient’s pain becoming harder to treat, people are finding relief in massage therapy through the human touch and understanding of the human body by massage therapists.
