Over the past ten years structured clinical massage techniques aimed at the myofascial
structures of the body have become a common choice of therapy for people with low
back pain (LBP) (Ajimsha, Al-Mudahka and Al-Madzhar, 2015), yet the mechanisms
behind their effects remain unclear. The overall aim of this study was to determine the
benefits of myofascial manual therapy through an evaluation of the possible
mechanisms associated with changes to muscle activity and blood flow, in people with
low back pain.
The first study aimed to investigate the effects of structured clinical massage
techniques (CM) on the flexion relaxation response (FRP) of the paraspinal muscles,
range of movement (ROM), pain and disability profiles in subjects with non-specific
chronic low back pain compared to a relaxation massage (RM) treatment. Results
indicated a main effect of time for trials achieving FRP for the multifidus muscle F (1,
13) = 12.109, p = .004 and a marginal main effect of time for the erector spinae muscle
F (1, 13) = 4.495, p = .054. There were significant improvements in VAS F (1, 13) =
6.74, p = .022, and PRI F (1, 13) = 10.254, p
