Effect of a corporate chair massage program
I recently came across a scientific study in slovenia on the impact of a corporate chair massage program. As you can imagine, as I offer this service I was interested in the results of the study.
Ninteen female volunteers who were aged between 40 – 54, were given chair massages on-site at their office twice per week for 1 month. They were all reporting various levels of aches and pains when they were working at their desks. The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire was used to track and measure the aches and pains, while a goniometer was used to track and measure range of motion measurements for the neck and spine.
The study showed a significant decrease for aches and pains in the neck and upper back. In addition, it found significant increase in range of movement for cervical lateral flexion of 28.8% (moving your neck so your ear goes towards your shoulder) and cervical extension (moving your head back).
This study fits with me and my teams experience that after a Seated Acupressure Neck & Shoulder massages, clients are less tense, feel looser and are able to move their neck & shoulders more freely.
Reference
Sisko PK, Videmsek M, Karpljuk D, 2011, The effect of a corporate chair massage program on musculoskeletal discomfort and joint range of motion in office workers. J Altern Complement Med, 17(7):617-22
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Reflexology and Pain Management – Part 3
In previous posts in this series I have discussed the nature of pain, and how is evidence for the reflexology can be used for acute pain. In this article I want to discuss reflexology and chronic pain, as back pain is the most common chronic pain and it effects 8 out of 10 people in their lifetime, I will focus on studies that have looked at chronic lower back pain. An initial pilot study was carried out entitle Reflexology in the management of low back pain: a pilot randomised controlled trial by F Quinn, CM Hughes and GD Baxter. the results of which was published (see Complement Ther Med. 2008 Feb;16(1):3-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2007.05.001. Epub 2007 Jun 27.) Participants suffering from non-specific lower back pain were recurited and randomly assigned to a reflexology or sham group. Each patient received either a 40 minute reflexology treatment or a sham treatment according to which group they were in once per week for 6 consecutive weeks. The key measure of success was the measurement of pain on the visual analogue scale supplemented by the McGill pain questionnaire, Roland-Morris disability questionnaire, and SF-36 health survey. Outcome measures were performed at baseline, week 6, week 12 and week 18. The results incidicated that reflexology may have a positive effect on Lower Back Pain. This initial trail was followed up by a more comprehensive study of times were nurses were the patients, nursing is in the top ten professions for high incidence of lower back pain. Again this study was a double bind trial, and the same measurements of pain were used as in the trail. The study recruited 50 male and 50 female nurses with chronic lower back pain to take part in the trail. 40 minute sessions of reflexology or sham treatements were performed three times a week for two weeks. The study concluded Reflexology can be effective in reducing the severity of chronic back pain, i.e. it is able to reduce pain from moderate to mild. (see The Irainian Journal of Nursing Times (reference Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2012 Mar-Apr; 17(3): 239–243.), focused on back pain in nurses) In conclusion it is clear that while the number and size of the studies are small there is a clear trend which demonstrates the effectiveness of Reflexology in helping to reduce pain levels especially in cases of lower back pain. Remember I offer a 15 minute taster Reflexology session for anyone who would like to try reflexology.
So how does massage reduce pain? – Part 2
Previously I explained the scientific theory for "How does massage reduce muscle pain?" in the short term . But what about the long term? I would like to introduce to you the "descending pain suppression mechanism." The brain is not a passive receiver of sensory messages, but rather a centre that interprets them and makes constant adjustments accordingly. For example, everyone knows that the way you perceive pain will be influenced by whether you focus on it or think of something else instead. And it seems reasonable to suppose that evolutionary selection may have favoured those individuals who could ignore pain signals for long enough to take actions that let them escape and survive danger.
Unpleasant cutaneous sensations stimulate nuclei within the mid brain. These nuclei in turn initiate activity in the descending spinal tracts that release endogenous opiates (inhibitory neurotransmitters) within the spinal segment receiving the painful input. This diminishes the intensity of the pain transmitted to the higher centres. Sports and Deep Tissue massage techniques can reinforce a naturally occurring discomfort, causing much greater release of opiates and achieve a more profound pain suppression.
References Basbaum A, Fields H. (1978) Endogenous pain control mechanisms: review and hypothesis. Ann Neurol 4: 451-2. Watson J (1982) Pain mechanisms: a review. 3. Endogenous pain mechanisms. Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 27: 135-43
The relationship between vitamin D and your immune system
A growing body of scientific evidence shows that vitamin D plays a crucial role in disease prevention and maintaining optimal health. You have about 30,000 genes in your body and vitamin D affects nearly 3,000. This is in addition to all the vitamin D receptors through out your body. Inflammation is the body's attempt at self-protection; the aim being to remove harmful stimuli, including damaged cells, irritants, or pathogens. While inflammation is a vital part of the body's immune response, it can also be problematic and plays a role in some chronic diseases e.g asthma, arthritis. Researchers investigated specific signalling events that vitamin D suppresses in order to inhibit inflammation. Research published in The Journal of Immunology called it the "inflammatory cascade"; low vitamin D levels failed to inhibit the cascade while adequate levels did the job. Researchers concluded that patients with chronic inflammatory diseases who are also vitamin D deficient may benefit from supplementation. Researchers in Turkey, reported in the international Journal of Rheumatic Diseases that chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain is improved with vitamin D. Fibromyalgia sufferers and other patients with chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain were given 50,000 iu/week oral vitamin D3 for three months. Afterwards scientists discovered decreases in pain, fatigue upon awaking, lack of energy, tender points and depression. Significantly there were 30 Fibromyalgia patients at the beginning of the study and only 20 at the end! Next week I want to look at the relationship between low vitamin D levels and common ailments. References Zhang Y, et al. (2012). Vitamin D Inhibits Monocyte/Macrophage Proinflammatory Cytokine Production by Targeting MAPK Phosphatase-1. The Journal of Immunology.
Yilmaz, R., Salli, A., Cingoz, H. T., Kucuksen, S. and Ugurlu, H. (2016), Efficacy of vitamin D replacement therapy on patients with chronic nonspecific widespread musculoskeletal pain with vitamin D deficiency. Int J Rheum Dis.
