Effect of Massage Therapy on Muscle Fatigue

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Status: Completed

Conditions: Low Back Pain

Treatments: Other: Massage

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03124238

UQTR-2016-MASSO

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main objective of the current proposal is to investigate the clinical and physiological changes triggered by massage therapy in a group of individuals with chronic low back pain experiencing muscular fatigue.

The investigators believe these objectives are in line with the "2014 Massage Therapy Research Fund research priorities", since the results produced by these investigations will generate knowledge with regard to the short term clinical efficacy of massage therapy and will provide critical information related to the physiological mechanisms underlying massage therapy clinical effects. Most importantly, the combined assessment of clinical and physiological outcomes will also yield key information to identify specific biological components of the massage therapy intervention. Determining the presence of a biological mechanism is, as for any treatment, considered one of the necessary criteria to declare a causal relationship between a specific intervention and its associated clinical effects. The investigators strongly believe that the proposed research will contribute to the identification of specific mechanisms that will complement the emerging clinical evidence supporting massage therapy in the treatment of chronic low back pain.

The proposed research project will involve researchers and future practitioners of massage therapy. In conjunction with a high quality research environment, it is the goal of the investigators to create an educational environment for undergraduate and graduate students that will foster interdisciplinary collaboration in order to ensure a diversified; high quality training of young researchers and clinician scientists working in the field of manual therapies.

Enrollment: 36 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Non specific low back pain

Exclusion criteria

• Low back pain of specific origin including but not limited to:

herniated disk fractures spondylolisthesis

• inflammatory rheumatic disease
• infectious disease
• neuromuscular disease
• vascular disease
• connective tissue disease
• severe disabling pain
• neurologic signs and symptoms
• pregnancy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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36 participants in 2 patient groups

Massage

Experimental group

Description:

Massage therapy of the lumbar muscles in a prone position during 30 minutes

Treatment:

Other: Massage

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Rest during 5 minutes in a prone position