Acute pain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33411426/

Chronic Neck Pain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35988324/

Carpal tunnel syndrome: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8782801/

Knee osteoarthritis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34890892/

Fatigue in breast cancer patients: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34603480/

Fibrymyalgia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34813518/

Myofascial pain syndrome: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11916-020-00877-5

Pain and fatigue in MS: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34188950/

Parkinson’s Disease: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32147033/

Post operative pain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36309174/

Plantar Fasciitis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36309174/

Spasticity in post-stroke survivors: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33919371/

It is important to note that current RCT’s included in these systematic reviews are of typical massage therapy or certain variants like myofascial release, not medical massage per se. In addition, double-blinding is extremely difficult in massage research, resulting in studies showing positive outcomes for massage often being deemed low strength of evidence.

Obturator nerve dysfunction: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23780884/

Parkinson’s Disease: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2019/03/medical-massage-vs-parkinsons-disease/?v=7516fd43adaa

Trigneminal nerve neuralgia: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2019/03/case-of-the-month-issue-1-2019/?v=7516fd43adaa

Mixed somatic syndromes: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2023/01/medical-massage-vs-mixed-somatic-syndromes/?v=7516fd43adaa

Acute tennis elbow: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2022/09/case-of-the-month-5/?v=7516fd43adaa

Chronic Headaches: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2019/01/case-of-the-month-issue-4-2018/?v=7516fd43adaa

Post-surgical Edema: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2015/08/postsurgical-edema/?v=7516fd43adaa

12 years of knee pain: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2013/07/medical-massage-vs-twelve-years-of-pain/?v=7516fd43adaa

Chronic headache: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2009/07/case-of-the-month-case-to-heal-a-headache/?v=7516fd43adaa

Case reports are published regularly at the Science of Massage Website in the online Journal of Massage Science.

Restless legs: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26835466/

Deep friction massage vs injection for tennis elbow: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28719982/

Foot massage helps edema & sleep in CHF patients: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37070839/

Massage Therapy in Integrative Care and Pain Management: A 2018 white paper from the American Massage Therapy Association. The second section provides an economic model for massage therapy as a first line approach to assist in the overall reduction of medical costs of treating pain with opiods.

Last updated 5/1/23