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All Archived Updates for:

Does Massage Therapy Work?

This page lists all 38 updates for one article on PainScience.com, Does Massage Therapy Work?. See also:


showing of all-time updates

LAug '22Does Massage Therapy Work? — New section, foam rolling — Well, this is rather overdue.
SMar '22Does Massage Therapy Work? — Minor addition — Added “nostril yanking therapy” as an example of pseudoscience in massage.
S2021Does Massage Therapy Work? — Edited — Proofreading and minor editorial polish.
M2021Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added a myth — Added an old massage myth I should have added long ago: the idea that rubbing certain acupuncture points can induce labour. It really can’t. Just not a thing.
S2020Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added information, types of massage therapy — Compared and contrasted the practice of massage in other “manual therapy” professions like chiropractic, osteopathy, and physiotherapy.
M2020Does Massage Therapy Work? — Upgraded, psychological effects of massage — Significantly expanded on the discussion of how massage might have profound psychological significance to people.
S2020Does Massage Therapy Work? — Minor addition — Added an infographic of massage benefits as a negative example of typical claims about the profession.
L2017Does Massage Therapy Work? — Rewritten, trigger point section — I’ve changed my position from positive to unknown, “more study needed,” based on a thorough update and review of the science. I updated the evidence for massage for back pain at the same time, with similar results.
L2017Does Massage Therapy Work? — Rewritten, back pain section — I’ve changed my position from positive to unknown, “more study needed,” based on a thorough update and review of the science. I updated the evidence for trigger point massage at the same time, with similar results.
S2017Does Massage Therapy Work? — Science update, massage efficacy — Added citation to Webb et al, plus related edits.
S2016Does Massage Therapy Work? — Minor addition — Added a footnote linking to an interesting article about the neurology of touch as a major mechanism of massage.
S2016Does Massage Therapy Work? — Minor upgrade — Added an important point about the potential of novel sensory input to treat chronic pain.
S2016Does Massage Therapy Work? — Revised — An expanded and improved introduction, and a new smartphone-only article summary.
S2016Does Massage Therapy Work? — Science update — New bad news evidence about manual lymphatic drainage.
L2015Does Massage Therapy Work? — New section.
M2015Does Massage Therapy Work? — Upgrade — Added a table of contents (finally).
L2015Does Massage Therapy Work? — New section — Added an appendix about the Skeptical Massage Therapists Facebook group.
L2014Does Massage Therapy Work? — New section — New section about massage for fibromyalgia and Li et al.
M2013Does Massage Therapy Work? — Science update — Updated several references, and added an important new one about massage for low back pain, which also spawned an entire new section about the failure of supposedly “advanced” massage techniques.
S2013Does Massage Therapy Work? — Minor update — Trivial but fun addition of the sloth cuddling cat video.
M2013Does Massage Therapy Work? — Science update — Important good-science-news additions about the effects of stretching on heart rate regulation, and the effects of massage on anxiety and depression (it reduces them).
S2012Does Massage Therapy Work? — Minor update regarding DOMS.
M2012Does Massage Therapy Work? — A new item at the end of the myths section: “fascia matters.” And improved information about detoxification myths.
M2012Does Massage Therapy Work? — More on “tightness matters”: interesting evidence that massage therapists cannot reliably find the side of pain by feel.
M2012Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added a new massage myth that “tightness matters,” with an interesting footnote about palpatory pareidolia.
M2012Does Massage Therapy Work? — Beefed up my explanation of how massage can be psychologically and emotionally important. See “Personal growth: a massage benefit that may be impossible to define or measure.”
S2012Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added references to the widely reported Crane et al study showing that massage supposedly “reduces inflammation.” It does not.
M2011Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added a list of “awkward questions” to demonstrate how hard it is to study what you can’t define. Also a few tweaks of related content.
S2011Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added reference to a new article explaining common statistical errors that particularly afflict massage therapy research. Thoroughly revised the section, “The trouble with studying massage,” right near the top of the article.
S2011Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added reference to new research showing that massage therapy probably helps bone cancer pain.
L2011Does Massage Therapy Work? — New section: “Personal growth: a massage benefit that may be impossible to define or measure.”
L2011Does Massage Therapy Work? — Updated several references, and added an important new one about massage for low back pain, which also spawned an entire new section about the failure of supposedly “advanced” massage techniques.
M2010Does Massage Therapy Work? — Some updates to the recently added section, More about lactic acid and detoxication, especially concerning evidence that lactic acid is not responsible for muscle pain and fatigue.
L2010Does Massage Therapy Work? — New section based on fascinating new scientific evidence, More about lactic acid and detoxification.
L2010Does Massage Therapy Work? — Major revision, with focus on adding evidence about the effectiveness of massage therapy for back pain, updating numerous citations, and better explanations of how massage research works (or doesn’t).
M2008Does Massage Therapy Work? — Added information about the new study in Annals of Internal Medicine about massage therapy for cancer patients.

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