Massage to Reduce Pain in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Pain is one of the most frequent and bothersome problems faced by people with spinal cord injury (SCI). The causes of pain are many and varied including pain from fractures, other injuries, post-surgical pain, neurogenic and/or neuropathic pain, pain from immobility, positioning, or from muscle imbalances or tone. While there are many attempts to treat pain with pharmacological agents, surgery, or physical or psychological interventions, on the whole, evidence of their effectiveness is often limited; the side effects may be uncomfortable; and often the results are less desirable than the pain itself. While some evidence suggests that massage is an effective treatment for pain, it is seldom available or employed in the rehabilitation setting for a variety of reasons including shortened lengths of stay, limited funding for health care, and lack of adequate research demonstrating its effectiveness in SCI.

This presentation will discuss the methodology and results of a RO1 study funded by NIH to evaluate the efficacy of Massage Therapy for decreasing pain, reducing fatigue, decreasing analgesic medication use, and increasing participation in rehabilitation modalities among patients with spinal cord injury during acute inpatient rehabilitation. Using a randomized controlled crossover design, the effectiveness of trained nurses doing a broad compression style massage compared to a control treatment involving light touch was evaluated. The study sample included 40 individuals age 16 or older receiving acute in-patient rehabilitation following SCI. Each participated for 5 weeks, receiving a total of 6 massage treatments and 6 control treatments.