Massage Therapy is not Proven By Science

… but does it matter?

One of the things massage therapists on the whole are sensitive about are questions about the efficacy of their treatments. 

There are a lot of therapist websites out there that have this big list of conditions, diseases, and disorders that they say massage therapy can treat. 

In fact, many regulatory bodies for massage therapy have similar lists on their sites.

And it is something that is discussed at great length in massage therapy school. How effective massage therapy is, and how it should be an accepted treatment for much more than just relaxation.

So this is a common thread in the massage therapy community as a whole. It’s not just a few practitioners, it’s almost everyone.

But here’s the truth:

There isn’t a lot of really solid scientific evidence that massage ‘really works’ – at least from a research point of view.

So in today’s episode, we’re talking about exactly that. But we’re also talking about why it doesn’t necessarily matter, at least in terms of running your business! Spoiler alert: if you and your clients find massage to be helpful, then that’s what is most important.

This is the second episode in my short series on Controversial Topics Within Health and Wellness. Ready to dive in and hear about this controversial topic? Just hit play! Or, search for Life Beyond The Massage Table on your fave podcast app. More episodes can be found right over here.

Resources for this episode:

• Overview of science and massage therapy: Paul Ingraham, Pain Science
• Science Based Medicine Review (mostly negative) of massage
• Massage Therapy and Health: Review by the NIH (USA)
• Real World Massage Therapy and Low Back Pain: Science Daily
• Study on Low Back Pain and Massage: Pain Medicine
• Massage Improves Circulation: Science Daily
• But does Massage Actually Improve Circulation? Pain Science
• Massage And DOMS study: PubMed

… and many other examples out there. Search PubMed, Science Daily, and Google Scholar to read more. Remember, when reading all of this look at how statistically significant results are (often it’s a slim margin), examine the bias in the study, and think about how this applies in the real world.