Blog article

Massage therapy

Although there is good evidence that massage provides short term pain relief but not a long term cure we still do not really know how it works. 

• Evidence suggests it could be the relaxation response from massage that loosens up the whole body. As was shown in a study on osteoarthitis of the knee where a whole body masssage of 60 minutes gave short term pain relief of the knee! It was not just a knee rub.
• Through research again, greater pain relief was obtained in post operative patients, when they were massaged by a professional therapist with a treatment based on what the patient wanted versus a massage given by a nurse to a strict protocol. 
• An unproven theory is that massage works primarily on the nervous system, rather than directly on muscles. A message gets sent to the brain from the skin and then the muscles are relaxed. Orthobionomy that I use and some stretch methods claim to work in this way. In my view I think massage works in this manner with a sympathetic massage therapist.

Movement

This is well documented but I will say it again' Physical activity and exercise decrease the severity of pain, improve physical function, helps psychological function and quality of life with the only adverse effects being temporary muscle soreness'. Many people fear that exercise will increase their pain, but in the long term it will help you to get better and stronger.

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