While most people readily understand the benefits of massage, this informative article at WebMD explains how a study proves that massage actually does help repair muscles and reduce pain, especially in places hard to treat- like the lower back.
The study cited in the report reveals that out of the 400 people randomly sampled, those assigned massages reported reduced pain from their massage treatment:
“After 10 weeks, participants in both massage groups reported greater average improvements in pain and functioning compared to those in the usual care group. And the type of massage they received didn’t seem to matter.
That’s good news, researchers say, because relaxation, or Swedish-style massage is the kind most commonly taught in massage schools and is thus widely available.
For most, the improvements seen with massage were modest.
Daily functioning, for example, improved, on average, between 2 to 4 points on a 23-point scale. Average pain improved about 2 points on a 10-point scale”