Chinese Massage Combined with Herbal Ointment for Athletes with Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Non-specific low back pain (NLBP) is an increasing health problem for athletes. This randomized controlled trial was designed to investigate the effects of Chinese massage combined with herbal ointment for NLBP. 110 athletes with NLBP were randomly assigned to experimental group with Chinese massage combined with herbal ointment or control group with simple massage therapy. The primary outcome was pain by Chinese Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (C-SFMPQ). The secondary outcome was local muscle stiffness by Myotonometer. After 4 weeks, the experimental group experienced significant improvements in C-SFMPQ and in local muscle stiffness compared with control group (between-group difference in mean change from baseline, −1.24 points, P = 0.005 in sensory scores; −3.14 points, P < 0.001 in affective scores; −4.39 points, P < 0.001 in total scores; −0.64 points, P = 0.002 in VAS; −1.04 points, P = 0.005 in local muscle stiffness during relaxation state). The difference remained at one month followup, but it was only significant in affective scores (−2.83 points, P < 0.001) at three months followup. No adverse events were observed. These findings suggest that Chinese massage combined with herbal ointment may be a beneficial complementary and alternative therapy for athletes with NLBP.

Chinese massage combined with core stability exercises for nonspecific low back pain: A randomized controlled trial

“…The inclusion and exclusion criteria were based on the published literature. 11 Inclusion criteria: (1) age < 55 years; (2) having NSLBP without any relevant ongoing pathologies such as disc prolapse, fractures, spondylolisthesis, tumor, osteoporosis, or infection; (3) willing to participate in this study and signing informed consent. 11 Exclusion criteria: (1) other pain syndromes; (2) spinal surgery in the past 6 months or having to undergo surgery or invasive examinations during the study; (3) neurological disease; (4) psychiatric disease; (5) serious chronic disease that could interfere with the outcomes (e.g., cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy, or other disqualifying conditions); (6) pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the study.…”

“…10 Chinese massage, as one of the complementary and alternative therapies, has a long history in China, which is popular for various diseases including neck pain, LBP, dysmenorrhea, pediatric torticollis, and cibophobia. 11 Some clinical reports from Pang, Zhang, Cai and Liu have confirmed the effectiveness of Chinese massage on LBP. [12][13][14][15] As core stabilities exercises can stabilize the lumbar structures, we assume that it may improve the effectiveness of Chinese massage and decreasing the recurrence rate of NSLBP when it was performed combined with Chinese massage.…”

Anesthetic Management of Lumbar Suturing as Regional Folk Beliefs

“…Toplumda sık karşılaşılan bu sağlık problemi için hastalar farklı tedavi yöntemleri uygulayabilmektedir. Uzak Doğu'da özellikle kullanılan manuel terapi, akupunktur, spinal manuplasyonlar, yoga geleneksel ağrı kontrolü yöntemleri olarak kullanılmış ve geniş serilerle yapılan yayınlarda ağrı kontrolünde etkinlikleri kanıtlanmıştır (8)(9)(10). Bununla birlikte özellikle bölgemizde yöresel-geleneksel inanışlara bağlı uygulamalar da azımsanmayacak kadar çoktur.…”

Effects of low-frequency electrical stimulation on cumulative fatigue and muscle tone of the erector spinae

“…Force-displacement curves were created using computational software and the areas under the curve (AUC) were calculated from the obtained data. The area under the curve (AUC) is indicating of level of muscle tone 15 , 16 , 17 ) .…”