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Dear e-touch reader,Here's your latest issue of e-touch! This month you can learn about research into massage for carpal tunnel syndrome, massage for infants, and more. Enjoy the issue! If you no longer wish to receive e-touch, please follow this link to unsubscribe. Carpal Tunnel Research and MassageBy Jean Ives
Take a moment to think of all the things you do during the day that require you to bend your wrist – washing dishes, driving a car, typing on a computer, even turning the pages of a magazine. Now think how difficult those actions would be if your wrist and fingers hurt, which they very well might if you suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome. The good news is that one research study suggests that massage can help. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a progressively painful condition that is caused when the median nerve, which runs from the forearm into the thumb, index and middle fingers of the hand, is compressed at the wrist. When the median nerve is pinched, the initial result is numbness and tingling in the thumb and middle fingers. Eventually burning and pain can develop if the condition goes untreated. Often these symptoms occur at night, which can cause sleeplessness for some sufferers. Typing, although often thought of as the culprit, is only one of many actions that can cause carpal tunnel syndrome. A more frequent cause, according to a Harvard Medical School publication, is assembly line work in industries such as manufacturing, sewing or meatpacking . The Journal of the American Dental Association reports that dentists are prone to carpal tunnel syndrome because of their intensive and repetitive hand motions. It’s not surprising that massage therapists are often victims of it as well.
Traditional treatments include immobilizing the wrist in a brace or splint to allow the nerve to repair itself, steroid shots, and in extreme cases, surgery. Alternative treatments include yoga, acupuncture and massage. A 2004 study conducted by staff at the Touch Research Institutes at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida concluded that massage therapy eases the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome and increases grip strength. The study, “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Symptoms Are Lessened Following Massage Therapy,” involved 16 participants who were all diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and whose jobs involved heavy word processing or computer work. Subjects were randomly assigned to the massage therapy group or the standard treatment control group. The massage group received one massage weekly for four weeks on the affected arm. They were also instructed in self-massage, to be performed each night before sleep. The control group received no treatment, but was taught the self-massage routine after the study ended. The massage therapy group received moderate pressure stroking from the fingertips to the elbow. Subjects kept a massage and pain log in which they recorded the times they began and ended self-massage, as well as their levels of pain on a scale from 0 to 10. Physicians performed several evaluations at the beginning and end of the study, including:
Assessments made before and after massage sessions on the first and last days of the study included the Perceived Grip Strength Scale; VITAS, a pain assessment using a visual analogue scale; the State Anxiety Inventory; and the Profile of Mood States. Results showed that the subjects in the massage group had significantly less pain and reduced carpal tunnel symptoms, as well as increased grip strength. “Functional activity also improved as noted in reduced pain and increased grip strength in the massage therapy group, both immediately after the first and last massage therapy sessions and by the end of the study,” say the study’s authors. For more information on massage techniques to help relieve carpal tunnel symptoms, see Stephen E. Chagnon’s article, “How to Relieve Carpal Tunnel Syndrome,” in the Spring 2001 issue of mtj™ (Massage Therapy Journal®). Sources: Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies; massage-classifieds.com. Jean Ives is a frequent contributor to mtj. To easily find a massage therapist in your area, go to AMTA’s Find A Massage Therapist® national locator service at www.findamassagetherapist.org. mtj Informs on Infant Massage
If you have an infant in your life, you’ve probably wondered if there's more you can do to help keep him or her happy and thriving. If so, you’ll want to pick up the Winter 2006 issue of mtj to read “Tender Touch,” a new article about infant massage and how it helps babies find the connections they need to grow. “Tender Touch” shares the experience of infant massage therapists and instructors, infant development specialists and massage therapy researchers on the benefits of massage for infants. They’ve found massage can help infants facing a variety of challenges, from being born premature or drug-addicted to suffering ordinary colic or stress. Training parents to provide regular massage to their children is an important part of its success. Whether you’re a new parent, a grandparent or an infant caregiver, you’ll want the Winter 2006 issue for this fascinating look at babies’ early experience of the world, and how massage can help them adjust to and thrive in it. The Winter 2006 issue will be available starting early November in select bookstores. You can also go directly to the AMTA website to subscribe now or order a single issue. Have You Seen Our Ads Yet?
This summer AMTA launched an advertising campaign specifically geared toward consumers of massage, to remind you of the benefits of choosing an AMTA massage therapist for your massage. This campaign continues in October, with ads in the October Body + Soul and Fitness magazines. The Body + Soul ad will also run in their November issue. Internet ads will begin on WebMD.com and continue on Google™, Yahoo® and DrWeil.com. The magazine ads feature real massage therapy clients and their AMTA massage therapists. The ads focus on how the professionalism of the AMTA massage therapists has helped their clients become active again after injury or stress. You can view some of these ads here or follow links from the AMTA home page or the News Room. These ads also remind you to look for the AMTA logo or AMTA member certificate when choosing a massage therapist, as a sign of professionalism in massage. To easily find a professional massage therapist in your area, just go to AMTA’s Find a Massage Therapist® national locator service at its new URL, www.findamassagetherapist.org. AMTA members listed in AMTA’s locator service must meet any and all local or state licensing requirements for massage therapists. All information included in the locator service is provided by individual members, and AMTA presumes all information to be true and correct. AMTA assumes no liability for incorrect information provided to AMTA for inclusion in this locator service, nor does AMTA represent these practitioners as competent. Table TipsA good tip for people who drive a lot.
A good way to remind yourself to sit up straight is to adjust your rear view mirror before you start driving, while you’re in a comfortable straight posture. When you check your mirror and have to look up to see out of it, you’re slouching—and need to straighten up! Anonymous AMTA Member For a different massage tip each week, visit AMTA's Massage Room. Click n' PickHere are the results from last month's e-touch survey: What do you think of e-touch's new design? Number of responses: 13 Do you find the new design easier to read?
Do you find the new design easier to navigate?
Do you find the new design more attractive?
Legal NoticeArticles submitted by individual authors are copyrighted by those authors and reprinted with their permission. Views expressed in these articles are not necessarily the views of the American Massage Therapy Association®, and should in no way be construed as an endorsement. They are for informational purposes only. AMTA MissionTo serve AMTA members while advancing the art, science and practice of massage therapy. |
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When you spend a lot of time in the car, your posture can become slumped, leading to a sore neck
and shoulders.
