International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (IJTMB)
Not a member yet
344 research outputs found
Sort by
Case report on visceral manipulation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
No full textIntroduction: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a deformity that affects the spine in three dimensions. Even though AIS patients are usually asymptomatic, AIS negatively impacts them, affecting their quality of life and restricting their social life. There are many treatment options but no gold standard. Visceral manipulation (VM) is widely used in osteopathic practice for the treatment of several conditions, but it is little known among the medical community. To the best of our knowledge, there are no scientific studies reporting VM as a treatment alternative for AIS.
Case Presentation: The case was a 14-year-old girl with AIS (baseline Cobb angle of 38.9° in the lumbar spine and 32.3°in the thoracic spine). Although the patient had no physical symptoms, she was recommended for surgery to correct the deformity. The osteopathic assessment indicated that the uterus and pericardium where the main anatomical structures creating tension. Two VM sessions were conducted with a month-and-a-half interval between sessions. The follow-up X-ray revealed a Cobb angle of 32.1° in the lumbar curvature and 34.3° in the thoracic curvature. The results were perceived as an improvement by the patient and her parents. No adverse events or complications were reported.
Discussion: After two session of visceral osteopathic treatment, this document reports a 6.8° Cobb angle reduction of the primary curve in a patient with AIS, with the thoracic curvature becoming the major curve
Poster Abstracts from the 2022 Massage Therapy Foundation International Massage Therapy Research Conference
No full text“So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”: an Editor’s Farewell
No full textThis editorial is a reflection on the tenure of the outgoing Executive Editor/Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Ann Blair Kennedy. The editorial reviews the initial goals and accomplishments that were initiated in 2016 through 2022
Massage Therapy Effectiveness in Rehabilitation on Humeral Shaft Fracture in a Child: A Case Study
No full textObjectives: This case report aimed to explore the process and outcomes of a seven-week massage therapy treatment on post-surgical intervention to reduce humeral shaft fracture.
Participant: An active 9-year-old girl who recently moved in the region and who underwent two surgeries following a humeral fracture with displacement after a fall at school.
Intervention: The treatment used various techniques such as manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), myofascial release (MFR), therapeutic massage, and neuromuscular techniques (NMT) in conjunction with the physiotherapist rehabilitation programme to help the client recover both physically and emotionally from the trauma. Evaluation of the outcome measures (OM) took place throughout the study and after the four-week interim that followed the interven-tion period.
Results: The massage th erapy intervention indicated improvement regarding range of motion (ROM) and muscular strength. The clients’ progress using the Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) indicated a gradual evolution to reach almost a 95% gain, and the Upper Extremity Function Index (UEFI) also showed improvement in everyday activities with a 21.5% positive change. The Child Outcome Rating Scale (CORS) and subsequent Child Session Rating Scale (CSRS) monitored therapeutic progress and indicated improvement on biopsychosocial (BPS) aspects throughout the treatment.
Conclusion: The client felt strong and more confident after each massage in-tervention. A combination of techniques and the child’s empowerment positively affected the client’s overall wellness and confidence to return to activities
Evaluation of Lumbar Myofascial Release Effects on Lumbar Flexion Angle and Pelvic Inclination Angle in Patients with Non-Specific Low Back Pain
No full textBackground: Many studies have shown that changes in lumbar flexion angle and the pelvic inclination angle can be affected by the shortening of the lumbar muscles, which can cause low back pain. Decreased lumbar flexion angle and pelvic inclination angle can cause or exacerbate low back pain by disrupting the lumbopelvic rhythm.
Purpose: This study aimed to use myofascial release techniques as a specialized treatment on muscle tissue to cause muscles to reach the optimal length and improve lumbar flexion angle and pelvic inclination angle, and thus improve low-back pain.
Setting: Non-specific low back pain patients, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran.
Participants: 30 chronic non-specific low back pain participants were randomly assigned into two groups.
Research Design: This is a randomized control trial. Interventions: The myofascial release group (n=15) underwent 4 sessions of myofascial release treatment based on Myer’s techniques, and the control group (n=15) underwent 10 sessions of routine electrotherapy for two weeks.
Main Outcome Measures: Before start-ing the intervention and after the last treatment session, both groups were evaluated by the lumbar flexion angle with a flexible ruler, calculating the pelvic inclination angle by a trigonometric formula, and VAS measured the pain score of the participants.
Results: The results of the paired t test showed that, after treatment in both groups, the severity of pain and lumbar flexion angle changed significantly (p ≤ .001). However, the pelvic inclination angle was changed considerably only in the myofascial release group, and we did not see significant changes in the control group (p = .082). Also, the independent sample t test results to examine the between-group changes showed that changes in the myofascial release group were significantly different from the control group (p ≤ .000). Also, the effect size shows the large effect of the myofascial release technique compared to the control group (effect size ≥ 1.85).
Conclusion: The present study results showed that myofascial release techniques in patients with low back pain could help decrease pain intensity and increase lumbar flexion and pelvic inclination angle. Based on the present study results, myofascial release can be a treat-ment to correct posture in patients with chronic non-specific, low back pain. Due to the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible to evaluate the long-term effects of treatment
Massage Therapy: A Person-Centred Approach to Chronic Pain
No full textPerson-centred care is an emergent movement within evidence-based medicine that has the potential to transform the health care system. Person-centred care is a collaborative approach in which health care professionals partner with patients to codesign and deliver personalized care with a focus on physical comfort, emotional well-being, and patient empowerment. By embracing person-centred care through two-way communication, patient engagement, and self-management strategies, massage therapists have the potential to further reduce suffering associated with chronic pain in our society
A Survey of Canadian Massage Therapists Experiences of Work-Related Pain
No full textAn investigation into the work-related pain (WRP) experienced by Massage Therapists (MTs) in Ontario, Canada was undertaken using voluntary completion of an online questionnaire following broad distribution of requests to take part in this study. Data from respondents were included for analysis if they provided informed consent and were a currently or previously registered MT in the region. With voluntary participation, self-selection respondent bias must be considered in evaluating reported results. Valid questionnaires (n=1103) were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Massage therapists ranged in age from 20 to 73 years, and 85% of respondents were female.
The overwhelming majority (85%) of MTs had experienced, or were experiencing, WRP at one or more of five pre-identified, primary locations with the hand/wrist, the most common site (65.5%); followed by the fingers/thumb (60.3%), shoulder (55.0%), lower back (50.1%), and neck (49.2%). Females were significantly more likely to report neck and shoulder pain than males, and were significantly more likely to report WRP at a higher number of body locations, with approximately one in five female MTs reporting WRP at all (5) primary sites. On a 10-point pain-severity scale, females reported significantly higher perceived pain than males.
Work-related pain was attributed to the gradual onset of musculoskeletal conditions by 60.3% of respondents, with no other choice of cause being reported by more than 11.1%. There was clear indication of WRP impacting the lives of MTs, with 48% reporting an impact on activities of daily living, 31% reporting a loss of income, 54.6% working in pain, and 30.5% considering changing (or having changed) their profession. Various work adjustments to WRP were reported, including altered biomechanics and greater rest between patient treatments.
The reported data suggested that WRP was a limiting factor for MTs’ work capacity
Characterizing a Common Class of Spontaneous Movements
No full textOur aim is to describe a possible class of nonpathological spontaneous movements that has so far received little attention in the scientific literature. These movements arise spontaneously without an underlying pathology such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, cerebral palsy or spinal cord injury. The movements arise in many different contexts including therapeutic, social, religious, and solitary settings. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the movements are related to development and maintenance of form, being part of inherited autoregulatory behaviors and hence bringing an overlooked therapeutic potential. We describe contexts in which they occur, illustrate with case reports, and characterize the movements in terms of their various triggers, movement phenotypes, and conscious and subconscious influences that can occur at both the individual level as well as during collaborative movement relationships between patient and therapist. This description is intended to create a more widespread awareness of the movements, and provide a foundation for future research as to their healing potential
COVID-19 and Massage Therapy Education Impact and Future Implications
No full textMassage therapy education processes, practices, and research are rarely de-scribed in the scientific literature, and the Covid-19 pandemic may have caused dramatic shifts in how massage therapists were being educated. To date, findings of the impact of the pandemic pivot on massage therapy education have yet to be reported. This editorial explores the trends in hands-on education of other professions during the pandemic and relates these trends to massage therapy education. Currently, it is unknown how institutions supported massage therapy educators in preparation for the shift to online and hybrid learning
The Effect of Muscle Energy Technique and Posture Correction Exercises on Pain and Function in Patients with Non-specific Chronic Neck Pain Having Forward Head Posture—a Randomized Controlled Trail
No full textBackground: Neck pain is a common problem in individuals despite different types of working patterns. Forward head posture is a common identified cause of chronic neck pain in patients. The effect of long-term forward head posture can be loss of function which can limit individuals’ capacity to work or do activities of daily living; hence it becomes necessary to intervene with muscle strengthening to improve neck stability, as well as mobility.Purpose: To assess effectiveness of muscle energy technique (MET) and posture correction exercises on pain and function in patients with non-specific chronic neck pain having forward head posture.Study Setting: Outpatient department of Dr. D. Y. Patil College of Physiotherapy, Pune, India.Participants: Both males and females between the ages of 21-60 years with a cranio-vertebral angle of less than 48° were included in study.Research Design: A randomized clinical trial. Methodology: MET group received muscle energy treatment + posture correction exercises, and control group receiving neck range of motion treatment. Outcomes measures were pain (Numerical Pain Rating Scale), function (Neck Disability Index), and cranio- vertebral angle (MB ruler).Results: Forty-eight subjects were included in the analysis, with 23 participants in Group A (MET) and 25 in Group B (Control). While both groups showed within-group improvements, Group A had significantly greater decreases in neck pain (p < .001), Neck Disability Index scores (p < .001), and significantly greater improvements in cranio-vertebral angles (p < .025) compared to group B.Conclusion: The combined effect of MET and posture correction exercises provides significantly greater results than neck range of motion treatment, and muscle energy technique should be included in the treatment of non-specific chronic neck pain in individuals with forward head posture