Med Headlines - Massage therapy can have a significant effect on pain reduction in post-surgical patients according to a study released this week in the Archives of Surgery. The study showed that massages decreased short-term pain intensity, pain unpleasantness and anxiety in a group of veterans who had thoracic and abdominal procedures.

“Pain can affect physical functioning, including the ability to cough and breathe deeply, move, sleep and perform self-care activities,” reported the study’s authors. “This may contribute to unintended and serious postoperative complications. Furthermore, ineffective pain relive may result in significant psychological stress.”

The study was conducted by Dr. Allison R. Mitchinson and her colleagues at the VA Ann Arbor Health Center. “Pain is often untreated owing to patient and clinician barriers,” Mitchinson said. “These include the fear of drug dependency and side effects, a feeling that pain should just be accepted and ineffective dosing based on biases of health care providers.”

The massage therapy in this study was used in conjunction with opioids. The study’s authors concluded that “massage may potentially be a safer alternative as-needed form of pain relief. With proper training, health care providers at the bedside (especially nurses) may now have a powerful non-pharamalogic tool to directly address their patients’ pain and anxiety.”

The study was limited by the fact that almost all of the participants were older men and the researchers could not examine the effects of longer or more frequent massages.