Massage Therapy and Neck Pain
One of the most common conditions we treat is neck pain which can range from a simple stiff neck, to inability to turn your head to either the right or left.
So in this blog post I wanted to discuss the recent scientific research regarding massage therapy for neck pain in people with neck arthritis.
Background
- 1 in 5 people who visit a massage therapist do so because of neck pain
- 28% of people with neck pain due to neck arthritis are likely to book a massage
Until the most recent research the scientific literature on the effects of massage therapy on neck arthritis pain was mixed. In this study an attempt was made to enhance the effects of weekly massage therapy by having the participants massage themselves daily.
Methods
Forth eight participants from a medical school, suffering from neck arthritis pain, were randomly split into two groups, one that received massage treatments and a wait list control group. The first group received a course of four 30 minutes weekly moderate pressure massages and supplemented this with 15 minute daily self-massage. The control group started the same course of treatments after four weeks without massages.
The effectiveness of the treatments were measured through self-reports and range of motion assessments, completed after massage treatments on the first and last days of the monthly study period.
Results
The group that received the monthly course of weekly massage treatments, showed significant reductions in pain and improvements in range of motion. These ROM changes occurred specifically for nodding your head (flexion) and right and left lateral flexion motions. Between the first and last day of the course of treatments showed on average a 50% decrease in pain during flexion. Conversely the control group reported increases in pain and reductions in range of movement while waiting for massage treatments.
The study
Field T, Diego M, Gonzalez G and Funk C G (2014) Neck arthritis pain is reduced and range of motion is increased by massage therapy, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 20(4): 219 – 223
supports my subjective experience that massage therapy helps reduced neck pain and increase clients range of movement when it has been compromised.
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Stretches for Head, Neck and Shoulders
These stretches can either be done as a complete series or individually and most of them can be done at your desk. Some will ease tension in specific parts of the body whilst others are generally relaxing. Please remember stretching should always be relaxing and never painful! To get maximum benefit from these stretches you should do them daily and hold each stretch for 15 seconds and repeat twice. Head And Neck
- Head rotation - keeping your head level, slowly turn from side to side.
- Slowly drop your head sideways moving your right ear towards your right shoulder and push down with your left shoulder - repeat on other side.
- Stand with your feet shoulder distance apart; look down towards your right foot (hold for 15 seconds), dropping left shoulder - repeat the exercise looking towards your left foot.
- Drop the lower jaw and open the mouth wide.
- Shrugging shoulders in a circular movement - forwards and then backwards.
- Raise your shoulders high and let them drap heavily; whilst letting breathing out.
- Clasp hands behind your head, with elbows back - push your chin back. Hold for 15 seconds. From this position look down and push your elbows together at the front and hold for a further 15 seconds.
- Clasp you hands and push up towards the ceiling, palms up now look down.
- Sit upright in a chair with a firm seat. Raise your arms as high as possible and remaining seated drop forward letting your head and arms hang heavily towards the floor.
What aids chronic knee pain?
According to Arthristis research Uk, many of the 4.5 million people in the Uk with osteoarthritis of the knee, suffer with chronic knee pain. This includes my dad, so this piece of research caught my attention. A group of researchers from Standord University working with counterparts in China conducted a review of 19 randomised control trials to examine whether accupuncture was effective for knee pain. They considered both the visual analogue scale (VAS) of measuring knee pain and Western Ontario and McMaster Universitities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). They concluded that accupuncture can be effective in relieving chronic knee pain 12 weeks after treatments. Reference , et al Updated systematic review and meta-analysis of acupuncture for chronic knee pain.
Guess what scientists have discovered
So, you go to the gym regularly, follow all the latest exercises trends, but are still not getting the results you wanted. It’s frustrating isn't it. You want that sculptured body, but it seems elusive. Well helps may be coming. Until now scientists haven't been fully able to understand how muscle responds to exercise especially in the early stages of an exercises program - when we are tempted to give up because we aren't yet seeing the results. Scientists at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne have established a new technique for studying muscle growth in humans. The technique, termed Dynamic Proteome Profiling, provides comprehensive coverage of the early changes that occur within human muscle in response to exercise training. This was the first data on the rate at which new muscle proteins are made when volunteers performed strength training exercises. Muscle is composed of thousands of different proteins and each protein makes a specific contribution to muscle function, for example, some proteins are responsible for movement while others are required to provide energy. The proteins in muscle have a tough time and often become damaged, but in healthy cells a sophisticated recycling system keeps protein quality high by continually breaking down and remaking each protein. When muscle fibres grow in response to weight training the amount of specific proteins is increased, and therefore muscle becomes larger and stronger. Because of Dynamic Proteome Profiling, scientists are now able to identify exactly which proteins are most responsive to exercise and whether that response is due to more of the protein being made or less of the protein being degraded/ broken down by the cell’s recycling machinery. This profiling will allow a finer level of detail of muscle response to exercises which could lead to better training methods, nutritional strategies or medicines that can be used to promote muscle growth, and hopefully less frustration on getting the results from hours spent in the gym! References https://www.gmjournal.co.uk/scientists-identify-muscle-proteins-most-responsive-to-exercise-1
