Sep
5
2023
Massage after exercise, despite conventional wisdom, doesn’t improve circulation to the muscles or removal of lactic acid, researchers in Canada said.
“This dispels a common belief in the general public about the way in which massage is beneficial,” Michael Tschakovsky, a professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, said in a statement.
The belief that massage aids in the removal of lactic acid from muscle tissue is so pervasive it is even listed on the Canadian Sports Massage Therapists website as one of the benefits of massage, despite there being absolutely no scientific research to back this up.
“It also dispels that belief among people in the physical therapy profession. All the physical therapy professionals that I have talked to, when asked what massage does, answer that it improves muscle blood flow and helps get rid of lactic acid. Ours is the first study to challenge this and rigorously test its validity.”
Kinesiology master’s degree candidate Vicky Wiltshire and Tschakovsky show that massage actually impairs blood flow to the muscle after exercise and that it therefore also impairs the removal of lactic acid from muscle after exercise.
The study is to be presented at the annual American College of Sports Medicine conference May 27-30 in Seattle.
So massage isn’t helpful?
“What we’re saying with this research …it’s not that massage isn’t good,” Tschakovsky told me. “It’s just that the common perception that it increases blood flow and helps in the removal of lactic acid isn’t correct.”
A lot of runners I know – including me – were convinced the theory was correct. My routine was to book a massage a few days before a marathon – made me feel like a racehorse raring to go – and a few days after, which I thought helped those still sore muscles feel better so I could get back out there and start getting ready for my next race sooner.
Tschakovsky says he’s done the same thing – gone for a massage after soccer tournaments.
“Certainly it makes me feel better and it makes me feel as if my muscles are going to work better. It’s just that it’s not because of these claimed reasons.”
Tschakovsky says if massage does improve performance and help you recover more quickly, science has yet to prove how it works. On the other hand, science has not proven that massage hinders performance and recovery.
The bottom line?
“It feels good, that’s the truth of it. A lot of performance is psychological-based so if you feel better, if you feel you’re in a better situation to do something, it probably has the ability to affect performance.”
Sep
5
2023
A study was conducted to assess the impact of a Swedish massage intervention on oncology patients’ perceived level of distress. Each patient’s distress level was measured using 4 distinct dimensions: pain, physical discomfort, emotional discomfort, and fatigue. A total of 251 oncology patients volunteered to participate in this nonrandomized single-group pre- and post design study for over a 3-year period at a university hospital setting in southeastern Georgia.
The analysis found a statistically significant reduction in patient-reported distress for all 4 measures: pain, physical discomfort, emotional discomfort, and fatigue. This reduction in patient distress was observed regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, or cancer type. These results lend support for the inclusion of a complementary massage therapy program for hospitalized oncology patients as a means of enhancing their course of treatment.
Reference:
Currin, Jennifer LMSW, OSW-C; Meister, Edward Anton PhD. A Hospital-based Intervention Using Massage to Reduce Distress Among Oncology Patients. Cancer Nursing. 31(3):214-221, May/June 2008.
Sep
5
2023
Acupuncture helped alleviate lingering pain and decreased shoulder mobility in people who had surgery for head and neck cancer, according to U.S. researchers at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. This therapy also resulted in significant improvements in extreme dry mouth or xerostomia, which often occurs in people who have had radiation treatment for head and neck cancer.
Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York studied 70 patients who were at least three months past their surgery and radiation treatments.About half got standard treatments, which include physical therapy and treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs. The other half got standard treatment plus a weekly acupuncture session.
After four weeks, 39 percent of those who got acupuncture reported improvements in pain and mobility, compared with only 7 percent in people who got typical care.
“Although further study is needed, these data support the potential role of acupuncture in addressing post neck-dissection pain and dysfunction, as well as xerostomia,” Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Dr. David Pfister said at the meeting.
