Manual Therapies Make Space
One article on PainSci cites Danziger 2016: Complete Guide to Frozen Shoulder
PainSci commentary on Danziger 2016: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
An excellent opinion piece making the case that the goal of manual (massage) therapy is “not to alter healing, but to make the natural process feel easier and more comfortable,” and to “make space for change.” It’s compelling speculation about the non-obvious benefits of massage therapy.
Do note that this idea is quite similar to the popular trend of justifying ineffective therapies with the claim that they can create an encouraging, motivating “window of opportunity.” The thesis here is a little different, but, for perspective, do see also Closing the window of opportunity ….
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
At this point there is very little (if any) compelling evidence that massage or other manual therapies can heal, fix, or cure anything. I’m not saying that manual therapies are ineffective or unwarranted, but research thus far shows that manual care alone produces only short term changes. Despite their short term nature, these changes can be extremely valuable if leveraged correctly. This understanding can help set reasonable expectations and produce more favorable outcomes for everyone involved.
related content
- “Closing the window of opportunity …,” Adam Meakins, Thesports.physio.
- “Immediate effects from manual therapy: much ado about nothing?,” Cook, Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy, 2011.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Inciting events associated with lumbar disc herniation. Suri 2010 Spine J.
- Prediction of an extruded fragment in lumbar disc patients from clinical presentations. Pople 1994 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- Characteristics of patients with low back and leg pain seeking treatment in primary care: baseline results from the ATLAS cohort study. Konstantinou 2015 BMC Musculoskelet Disord.
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial. Kuyken 2022 Evid Based Ment Health.
- Is there a relationship between throbbing pain and arterial pulsations? Mirza 2012 J Neurosci.