Assessment of the effectiveness of medical massage in patients with low back pain

Waldemar Andrzejewski, Krzysztof Kassolik, Anna Karaś, Grzegorz Karaś, Ewa Trzęsicka

Waldemar Andrzejewski, Krzysztof Kassolik, Anna Karaś, Grzegorz Karaś, Ewa Trzęsicka – Assessment of the effectiveness of medical massage in patients with low back pain – research report. Fizjoterapia Polska 2006; 6(2); 150-156

Abstract

Background. Low back pain is a very often reported disorder in physiotherapist’s office. Medical massage is one of the most popular method to treat this kind of problem. The main difference between medical and classical massage depends on its methodology. In medical massage it is crucial to include the structural relationship between soft tissues. In order to find an effective treatment method therapist must treat patients as a whole, as a number of connected with each other structures. To assess the effectiveness of medical massage in people with low back pain problems. Material and methods. Twenty eight patients with low back pain have taken part in the research. Anamnesis was taken from all the patients, they also had a palpation examination to evaluate the intensity of pain in tissues. The evaluation was taken before the treatment, after the sixth and the last procedure of medical massage. Patients had one set consisting of 10 procedures. Time duration of each procedure was between 40-70 minutes. It was supposed that the painful area means disorder with an increased tension in this place. Structures which had bigger tenderness were massaged. Subjects were in prone or lying on their side position in order to maintain relaxed conditions. Classical techniques were used: stroking, petrissage, kneading, and vibration by the same therapist in all subjects. Results. There has been a significant decrease in both number of painful areas and pain intensity reported by patients. Conclusion. Medical massage is an effective therapeutic method to work on patients with low back pain. The effectiveness of massage was observed after six procedures, and after the sixth massage patients reported only slight pain.

Key words:
low back pain, medical massage, pain evaluation
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