Archive for Massage Research

The problems with researching massage

March 3, 2012 Julie Onofrio Massage Research

There are many problems that arise when doing research on massage therapy.  You will find many of these are objections from the massage therapists themselves as to why we should have or even use research in massage.  The biggest problem is how do you really measure what happens in a session and recreate a real massage in a controlled environment?  Massage is not done in a controlled environment where a particular type of massage is done on a particular body part for a specified amount of time.  The way most massage works is that the massage therapist will let their hands and ‘gut feelings’ lead the massage.  How do you really measure or recreate that?

How do you measure the amount of pressure or the massage technique that is done?  You can teach a 12 MT a specific technique and it will be done 12 different ways with each persons own unique touch and intention behind the technique. How do you regulate or measure the amount of pressure that is applied and how do you regulate or measure the exact spot in each muscle or muscle group so that you know exactly what it is that is making the difference?

There is also nothing really in massage that could replicate the idea of a placebo or sugar pill.  You can hand someone a pill that they don’t know what is in it, but how do you really do that with massage?

How do you control for all of the other factors in a persons life also – I guess that is a problem with all research – was it the intervention or the change in diet that they made or them getting more sleep or them living their life.

Yet one of the ways we will get the insurance companies and the general public’s attention is with having more research.  The insurance companies especially are moving toward using research to determine where they spend their money for their patients – what works best for the money spent.  It is also just as important to have research for the spa or relaxation division of the massage profession.  Spa massage, heat and special spa therapies are just as important in healing.

Getting massage therapists interested in research is another part of this challenge.  They are taught various techniques in school that are actually not proven scientifically and the research that is done to support various modalities is usually flawed in some way but massage therapists do not really know it because they are not trained in research literacy and more importantly – they see these same things work when they practice it.   When the ‘researchers’ show up and say something doesn’t work to the many massage therapists who are practicing that modality – it is like a slap in the face (even though the researchers that I have interacted with online don’t mean it that way- their approach is very well for lack of a better work -egotistical).   That is not going to get any points for research!  From what I understand so far in this process of learning about research is that it isn’t that it doesn’t work but more of the way that it is explained as to how it does work -(does that make any sense?)  For example – research does not support the practice of Reiki but there are many massage therapists, nurses and even people in hospitals and hospice units who practice it.  It does work but the reason it does work is a mystery really or so it is said to be by science.  Is it the therapeutic presence?  Most likely but we don’t really know.  Supposedly there is no such thing really (scientifically speaking) as Universal Energy according to this article- Reiki Can Not do Harm – or can it? by Christopher Moyer, a well known massage researcher and Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Wisconsin-Stout

“universal energy” on which it is based cannot possibly exist, for if it did, it would have to do so in contradiction of the conservation of mass-energy principle, and that is as well supported by scientific evidence as practically any principle that we know

 

The problem with researching massage is how do we combine science with the art of massage and preserve the art of massage – of being present, of connecting, of being compassionate care givers, with science?  We (I) just want to do massage!

No comments

Massage and Sleep Disorders

January 27, 2012 Julie Onofrio Massage and Sleep Disorders

Initial search for research on Massage and Sleep Disorders:

Int J Neurosci. 2001;106(3-4):131-45.

Lower back pain is reduced and range of motion increased after massage therapy. Hernandez-Reif M, Field T, Krasnegor J, Theakston H.

Palliat Med. 2004 Mar;18(2):87-92.

A randomized controlled trial of aromatherapy massage in a hospice setting. Soden K, Vincent K, Craske S, Lucas C, Ashley S.

Effects of massage therapy on sleep quality after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Parkinson’s disease symptoms are differentially affected by massage therapy vs. progressive muscle relaxation: a pilot study

Randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of using foot reflexology to improve quality of sleep amongst Taiwanese postpartum women.

See more on massage and sleep disorders

No comments

Why do we need Massage Therapy Research?

January 16, 2012 Julie Onofrio Why Research?

Why do we need massage therapy research especially since we as massage therapists already see so much of the proof on a daily basis in the practice of massage?

Research is an important part of the next steps for the massage profession.  The biggest reason is that it can help the massage profession and your massage business gain the respect that is needed by the general public and also the medical profession.  It will also help get massage covered by insurance.  One of the things that Debra Senn (a past insurance commissioner in WA State who made it possible for WA State MT to become contracted providers with insurance) said one of the most interesting things about the process.  She said when insurance companies first heard they were going to have to pay for massage, they complained thinking that it would cost them more money.  They thought they would have to pay $10,000 for the carpal tunnel surgery (or whatever type of surgery and that amount is just for example- how much does a carpal tunnel surgery really cost?)  and then pay a few extra thousand to cover the massage.  They did not understand that massage could eliminate the need for massage.  I still don’t think they really get it as what I see in the way of referrals from most doctors is generally for back and neck pain.  The doctors don’t really understand how massage can be used for various things like musculo-skeletal injuries such as plantar fasciaitis, tennis elbow, sprained ankles, and things like that.  Doctors will relate more to evidence and research that shows how massage can help.  They will also start getting it when more people provide start using massage for just those kind of issues and start giving feedback to the doctors.

One of the other things about research is that it is important to have research that shows what massage does.  Many of the things that are currently being taught in massage school are inaccurate and have just been handed down through classes because that is what they are taught.  There are still many schools saying that massage should not be used on people with cancer which was debunked many years ago. (See massage and cancer)   The other big myth is that of toxins being removed (See Massage and toxins) from the body through massage and also the myth that massage removes lactic acid. (See Lactating Mythers – Massage and the Lactic Acid Myth)   Right now there are many massage therapists that continue to say those things and don’t have the latest research that shows otherwise and having so much misinformation makes massage confusing to the general public.

But having more research is not really enough since most massage therapists are not research literate- that is the don’t understand how to evaluate a research study.  Just because a study was done and shows positive outcomes does not mean that it shows anything unless you can understand it.  Research literacy is needed and it begins with having to read and learn about things that most have no interest in.  Most massage therapists are just happy to be doing massage or are struggling to get clients or find a high paying job.  Who has time for research or learning any more when of course we already know that massage works?

Research Literacy according to Ravensara Traviallian from her article in Massage and Bodywork Magazine in the Research Perspectives column is :

the ability to read, understand, and
apply information from published
research—

Once you are research literate, then you have the opportunity to start influencing research and even creating research studies.

In your massage practice, you will be able to look up research to help you address the needs of your clients when they come in with more difficult diseases and conditions and when you want to know if massage can help them.  When clients ask you how massage works, you will be able to give a knowledgeable answer.  When clients understand more how their bodies work, they have the power to take care of it better.  They also may pass this information on to their doctors- and so it goes.

So please share your comments or insights as to why we do need research and need to also be able to understand research.

 

4 comments

The History of Massage leads to the future

September 6, 2010 Julie Onofrio Massage Politics, Massage Research, News

The history of massage is one of the most popular pages on my website.  Interestingly enough it is also the website that is most plagiarized by others.  Many people are usually interested in the history of massage to show it’s an acceptable method of treatment or they are looking for info for a massage school project.  While the history of massage is not copyrighted – my version of it is.  For the life of me I can’t figure out why people don’t understand that but this isn’t really what I am planning on writing about.

The real story is that most of what is written on my page on the history of massage was taken from bits and pieces from massage school textbooks.  I gathered it a small piece at a time.  Many of the books said similar things on each step in the time line.  Unfortunately for the massage profession – most of it is wrong and I was corrected a long time ago by the historian for the massage profession -Robert Calvert who now has passed away.  I was able to meet Robert in person a few times and talk about the history of massage.  What is intriguing to me is how massage has been handed down through time and how we have gotten to the point of having so many laws and regulations about massage when in fact is was done for so long without.  Also when I study the various types of massage and the history of each of those I often find that most come about out of need to heal the creator’s pain or someone in their family.  They study what is known and spin it around into their own design finding what works and what doesn’t.

Last weekend I spent a whole afternoon perusing the Google Books section on the history of massage and put together an interesting collection of historical massage books on massage and the movement cure as it was once talked about.  The books were written between 1850-1920 and most had a chapter on the history of massage.  Now we don’t actually know if they actually had accurate info or were they all copying each other like we currently have in many current books.   I would love to take the time to read all of those books and also look for other books to compare what they are saying and come up with more details on the history of massage.

The reason for doing such a project would be to learn more about ourselves and where we have come.  The current trends in the profession seem to be headed toward more hours of education and more legislation.  There is talk of degree programs in massage.   Historically from what I read in the old books was that massage was once a 2-3 year training program and it was mostly done by doctors.  It seems that more hours of training is needed to become more a part of the medical profession and to be accepted by the medical profession but we don’t really know if that is true.   Here in WA State we are able to be contracted providers with insurance companies and doctors refer to us all the time.   It came about mainly because of the work of a savvy insurance commissioner, Deborah Senn, who used to get massaged regularly by one of the massage professions political spokespeople, Lori Belenski who currently works for the Chiropractic association.  We didn’t need any more than our 500 hours of training that is required for licensing.  All we needed was a good insurance commissioner who loved massage and knew what it could do.

The old books also have quite a bit of case studies and research being done.  I would love to know more about that early research because there weren’t any big influences like who is paying for them to be done – or maybe there was at that time – I guess I don’t know for sure.

So back to the history of massage and what it can do for our future.  I believe that in studying our history we can get a clearer sense of ourselves and take a better look at just what we want it to become.   How can we help more people with touch and massage?  Could it be in getting back to having massage be a family activity being taught to sons to help their wives during child birth?  As we gain more research and evidence that massage can help people be more healthy, will it be able to become an everyday event covered by insurance for preventative means?  Could we see more programs like Massage for Peace and Touch to TEACH programs to support our communities?  Does that take more education or just more money to start them?  Could we as Robert Calvert spoke about in his book “The History of Massage” be less likely to repeat our past mistakes?

First up is to make sure that everyone knows that Per Ling was not the father of Swedish Massage! (See also Google Books excerpt from the History of Massage” and also this latest article from Judi Calvert on Massage Today)

2 comments

MTCIM – Day 2

May 14, 2010 Julie Onofrio Massage Research

Talk about brain drain… but the wine and cheese party helped debrief!

Personally I didn’t understand any of the talks in the am.  So if any one else did please share.

I went to the breakout session on massage and anxiety/depression and had some great experiences.  My favorite was between Dawn Donovan and Chris Moyer.  Dawn presented her research on Use of Massage Therapy to Reduce Anxiety and to Improve Sleep in Clients Participating in an Inpatient Withdrawal Management (Detox) Program: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

What I loved most was that it was real.  She started with saying how many billions of dollars are spent in the US and Canada on drug and alcohol rehab and issues each year.  Her study did show that massage was successful in reducing anxiety in people who were getting off of their substance.   I loved that she intuitively decided on the massage protocol which was totally different from her usual form of bodywork.  Taking into consideration the clients needs , combining intuition and science is what we need more.   I also think it was just the idea that it was on a topic that could actually be useful to massage therapists in getting and keeping clients or creating a job in massage.
Chris Moyer isn’t a massage therapist but is a researcher who loves massage.   He is another great example of being able to take massage and measure what it is doing.  He did a literature study on whether or not massage helps reduce cortisol.  Interestingly he found that it does not reduce cortisol which is very contradictory to most of the research already done in this area mainly by Tiffany Field at the Touch Research Institute.
Making research understandable is the main reason I am attending this conference.  I am also learning about why research is so important and what it can do for the massage profession.  I think one of the big challenges is taking research and turning it into something that massage therapists can use to apply to their practice which is really just about getting and keeping clients.

I was later told by Ruth Werner that I was also witness to a rare phenomenon in research with one presenter, Ross Turchinov being intensely challenged.  (I personally didn’t understand what he was trying to say or show.  The studies he did refer to were all done in the 50′s-70′s and the challenger didn’t think that there was any prior proof of what he was talking about.  His talk was “Impact of Massage Therapy on Electrophysiology of the Soft Tissue and Cellular Function”.   I might try to talk to him tomorrow to see if he could explain it more.

There are so many well known people there from all aspects of massage- Les Sweeney (ABMP), Sydney Duncan (Massage Today), someone from COMTA but I can’t remember her name right now, AMTA presidents/officers,  but hmm…. no sign of anyone from Massage Magazine.

It was such a great networking day too meeting many people who I have connected with on Facebook and www.massageprofessionals.com .   I can’t wait to show you a new project on massage research that will help you make sense of research that hopefully will be done in the fall!

No comments
« Older Entries