THE QUESTION Chronic back pain can be difficult to treat. How might massage therapy compare with the standard treatment of painkillers, muscle relaxants or anti-inflammatory drugs and physical therapy?
THIS STUDY involved 401 adults (average age was in the mid-40s) who had chronic and moderately severe low back pain with no identified cause. They were randomly assigned to receive usual care or to have about a one-hour massage each week for 10 weeks. Massages were either the most common type, intended to relax the muscles, or a more specialized structural massage, which uses techniques to release tension in specific tissues and joints. At the end of treatment, all groups registered improvement, on average. The improvement was greater among those who had gotten massages, with virtually no differences between the two types of massage. Massage recipients reported less pain and better ability to go about their daily activities than did those who had been given standard care. They spent less time in bed and missed fewer days of work. People in the massage groups also had made fewer doctor visits for back pain. After a year, however, there was little difference between the massage groups and the usual-care group.
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