News Regular Massage Therapy Eases Pain and Fatigue of MS, Small Study Reports Regular Massage Therapy Eases Pain and Fatigue of MS, Small Study Reports by Patricia Silva, PhD | February 10, 2017 Share this article: Share article via email Copy article link Regular massage therapy given peopleĀ withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā significantly reduced their pain and fatigue, and helped to ease spasticity, a small pilot studyĀ reports. The results further support previousĀ findingsĀ as to the benefits of massage in treatingĀ MS symptoms and improving patients’ quality of life. The study, āImpact of Massage Therapy on Fatigue, Pain, and Spasticity in People with Multiple Sclerosis: a Pilot Study,ā was published in the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork. “A meta-analysis in 2016 of recent research shined a light on the efficacy of massage therapy for various types of pain,” Nathan Nordstrom, president of the American Massage Therapy Association, said in an associationĀ press release, referring to a study published inĀ Pain Medicine. “This new study is another piece in the picture of how massage therapy can be used as a non-pharmacologic approach to pain relief.” The non-randomized study, conducted in a nonprofit long-term care facility, enrolled 28Ā MS patients. Twenty-four completed all massage therapy sessions and outcome assessments. The researchers measured fatigue, pain and spasticity using widely accepted scales, and physical and mental health perceptions, both measures of life quality, were assessed through questionnaires. AĀ standardized massage therapy routine was given patients once a week for six weeks. At the study’s end, researchers found a significant improvement in fatigue and pain measures and in patient-reportedĀ overall health. AĀ significant correlation was also reported between those improvements, spasticity and perceptions of physical and mental health status. “MT [massage therapy] as delivered in this study is a safe and beneficial intervention for management of fatigue and pain in people with MS,” the researchers concluded. “Decreasing fatigue and pain appears to correlate with improvement in quality of life, which is meaningfulĀ for people with MS who have a chronic disease resulting in long-term health care needs.” About one-third of MS patients are thoughtĀ to use massageĀ as a supplement toĀ conventional medicines for the disease. Print This Page About the Author Patricia Silva, PhD PatrĆcia holds a PhD in medical microbiology and infectious diseases from the Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands, and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisbon, Portugal. Her work in academia was mainly focused on molecular biology and the genetic traits of infectious agents such as viruses and parasites. PatrĆcia earned several travel awards to present her work at international scientific meetings. She is a published author of several peer-reviewed science articles. Tags fatigue, pain, quality of life, spasticity, symptom management
April 17, 2024 News by Steve Bryson, PhD NfL blood levels predict CIS to MS conversion: Clinical trial data
April 16, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Patients deem AI-based ChatGPT more empathetic than neurologists