Massage Efficacy Beliefs for Muscle Recovery from a Running Race

Background: Belief in efficacy of CAM therapies has been sparsely reported and may be different than reported use of the therapy. Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify efficacy beliefs of massage for muscle recovery following a 10-km running race. Setting: Finish zone of a 10-km race. Research Design: Participants completed a brief survey regarding running race characteristics, prior use of massage, and belief in efficacy of massage regarding muscle recovery from the race. Participants: The subject pool consisted of 745 individuals who completed a running race and were within 60 minutes of race completion. Main Outcome Measures: Subjects reported demographic information (age, gender), race information (finish time, perceived exertion, muscle soreness, fatigue), prior use of massage, and belief regarding efficacy of massage for postrace muscle recovery. Results: Most study participants believed that massage would benefit muscle recovery following the running race (80.0%), even though only 43.9% had received a massage previously. Those who had received at least one massage were significantly more likely to believe that massage would benefit muscle recovery (91.9% vs. 70.4%, p < .001). Females were more likely than males to have had a massage (52.3% vs. 36.0%, p < .001) and to believe it would benefit recovery (83.1% vs. 77.1%, p = .046). Conclusions: Massage is well-accepted as a muscle recovery aid following a running race, but females and those who have used massage were significantly more likely to perceive it as advantageous. Belief in a therapeutic value of massage for muscle recovery exceeds its reported use

Physiological Adjustments to Stress Measures Following Massage Therapy: A Review of the Literature

Use of massage therapy by the general public has increased substantially in recent years. In light of the popularity of massage therapy for stress reduction, a comprehensive review of the peer-reviewed literature is important to summarize the effectiveness of this modality on stress-reactive physiological measures. On-line databases were searched for articles relevant to both massage therapy and stress. Articles were included in this review if (i) the massage therapy account consisted of manipulation of soft tissues and was conducted by a trained therapist, and (ii) a dependent measure to evaluate physiological stress was reported. Hormonal and physical parameters are reviewed. A total of 25 studies met all inclusion criteria. A majority of studies employed a 20–30 min massage administered twice-weekly over 5 weeks with evaluations conducted pre-post an individual session (single treatment) or following a series of sessions (multiple treatments). Single treatment reductions in salivary cortisol and heart rate were consistently noted. A sustained reduction for these measures was not supported in the literature, although the single-treatment effect was repeatable within a study. To date, the research data is insufficient to make definitive statements regarding the multiple treatment effect of massage therapy on urinary cortisol or catecholamines, but some evidence for a positive effect on diastolic blood pressure has been documented. While significant improvement has been demonstrated following massage therapy, the general research body on this topic lacks the necessary scientific rigor to provide a definitive understanding of the effect massage therapy has on many physiological variables associated with stress

Avoiding Common Writing Mistakes That Make Your Editors and Reviewers Cringe

Writing for scientific journals is not an inherentlysimple task for most people. It requires purposefuleffort and multiple revisions of the initialmanuscript draft. While each author and articlehas its own individuality, writing well to addressthe core elements of a scientific report is necessary.As editors of the IJTMB, we often see weaknessesin the core elements of the manuscripts we receive.This editorial summarizes common recurring issues,and provides suggestions on how to avoidthese pitfalls in the submission of a research articleor case report to the IJTMB

What Did I Do? Practitioner Awareness of Ethical Issues in Scientific Publishing

Massage therapy practice as well as research in massage therapy is guided by ethical principles and boundaries of professional behavior. Scientific publishing is also guided by a set of ethical standards, about which all aspiring scientific authors should be aware. Honesty, integrity, and conflicts of interest are issues in science and these issues can also impact scientific publishing. Historical ethical issues and current events are discussed

Myofascial Trigger Point-focused Head and Neck Massage for Recurrent Tension-type Headache: A Randomized, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial

Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) are focal disruptions in skeletal muscle that can refer pain to the head and reproduce the pain patterns of tension-type headache (TTH). The present study applied massage focused on MTrPs of subjects with TTH in a placebo-controlled, clinical trial to assess efficacy on reducing headache pain