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Harvard report endorses massage therapy for acute LBP

Jan. 15, Cambridge, Mass. – A 2012 report issued by Harvard Medical School endorses massage therapy for patients with low back pain (LBP).

January 18, 2013  By Massage Therapy Canada


Low back
pain can be highly uncomfortable, debilitating and disruptive for those who
suffer from it and has been implicated as a major factor in lost work time and
health care spending in North America.


The
Harvard Medical School Special Health Report, titled Low Back Pain – Healing
Your Aching Back
(published
by Harvard Health Publications) outlines, for both health professionals and
lay-readers, factors leading or contributing to LBP and suggests therapeutic
options for patients who live with it.  Amongst these, massage therapy is listed as a viable
therapeutic option for patients suffering from LBP.


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The
report quotes a study that shows: “acupressure massage (also called shiatsu),
which involves applying finger pressure to points that lie along acupuncture
meridians, gave greater relief than traditional Swedish massage,” and also
notes that “Another [study] found similar results from Swedish and Thai
massage, in which the therapist moves the massage recipient into a series of
poses, and includes muscle compression, joint mobilization, and acupressure.”*


The
report also quotes a study that states, “receiving massages may enable you to
spend less on doctor visits and pain medications.”


To
receive this report –and other health reports – in full, and/or to obtain
permission to distribute it to patients and/or colleagues, please visit www.health.harvard.edu/

 

 * Excerpts reproduced with permission.


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