Massage in the US is very popular. Approximately thirty percent of Americans receive a massage annually. About 30% of those receiving massages report obtaining one for a health condition such as general wellness, pain management, migraine, or for injury rehab. Over eighty percent of patients agree with the comment that massages may be helpful for health and wellness improvement.
For what health issues has massage therapy shown to be helpful? Here is a list of what the literature has shown good results from massage:
· Cancer related fatigue
· Reducing pain in cancer patients
· Low Back Pain
· Arthritis affecting the knee
· Decrease post-operative pain
· Bumping up the human immune system effectiveness
· Reducing the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome
· Decreasing blood pressure
· Decreasing frequency of headaches
· Relieving alcohol withdrawal symptoms
Many studies have shown massage therapy to be very helpful for chronic low back pain. In a number of studies, effectiveness has been shown for up to a year. It’s been shown to be better than education, relaxation, and acupuncture, with equivalency to exercises and bracing. Massage was interestingly inferior to TENS unit and spinal manipulation treatment with chiropractors in phoenix. With regards to neck pain, research has not shown definitive conclusions, so it is unclear if in fact massage is truly helpful for benefitting neck pain and function.
For carpal tunnel syndrome, patients routinely showed improvements in pain, grip strength, anxiety, and depression when compared with controls. So there is some preliminary data for the utilization of massage in patients suffering from CTS. Perhaps surgery could be avoided with its treatment inclusion along with chiropractic phoenix az.
With regards to fibromyalgia, massage has mixed results. Some research has shown it to be helpful for pain management doctors in arizona, whereas some has shown only short term or no relief. More research is definitely needed in this field. Fibromyalgia affects patients very differently. Some individuals may not tolerate massage at all, whereas others get a lot of relief from it.
Research into massage for headaches exists, but it is routinely either low quality or limited into how much of a conclusion can be drawn from it. There are some findings showing massage to be superior to acupuncture for migraine headaches. In one study patients had a decreased number of overall monthly migraines along with severity. There is also one study in the literature showing that craniosacral massage may be beneficial for tension type headaches.
Shoulder pain has been looked at in a number of studies, most of which varied tremendously with the types of patients treated. Most patients in these studies showed improvements for range of motion, pain, and functional disability despite having numerous different conditions in the studies. So massage helps considerably with shoulder pain.
Massage should not typically be considered as initial treatment for health issues that are chronic and non-malignant. It should be instituted as a complement to other conventional initial treatments like PT and medications.
Preferred Pain Center is a Comprehensive Pain Center including Medical and Interventional Arizona Pain Doctors, Phoenix Chiropractors Treatment, Phoenix Physical Therapy, Spinal Decompression Therapy, and Manipulation Under Anesthesia.
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