COMPARISON OF A TARGETED AND GENERAL MASSAGE PROTOCOL ON STRENGTH, FUNCTION, AND SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME: A RANDOMIZED PILOT STUDY. Moraska A, Chandler C, et al. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2008;14:259–267

Twenty-seven subjects with a clinical

diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) were randomly assigned to receive six weeks of twice-weekly massage consisting of either a general massage treatment programme (GM) or a CTS-targeted massage treatment programme (TM). Outcome measures included hand-grip and key-pinch dynamometers, Levine symptom and function evaluations, and the grooved pegboard test. Evaluations were conducted twice during baseline, two days after each of the seventh and eleventh massages, and

at a follow-up visit four weeks after the twelfth massage treatment. Results: A main effect of time was noted on all outcome measures across the study. Timeframe improvements persist at least four weeks post-treatment. Comparatively, TM resulted in greater gains in grip strength than GM, with a 17.3% increase over baseline but only a 4.8% gain for the GM group. Significant improvement in grip strength was observed following the seventh massage. No other comparisons between treatment groups attained statistical significance.

THE COMBINED ACUTE EFFECTS OF MASSAGE, REST PERIODS, AND BODY PART ELEVATION ON RESISTANCE EXERCISE PERFORMANCE. Caruso JF, Coday MA. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2008;22:575–582

Although massage administered between workouts has been suggested to

improve recovery and subsequent performance, its application between bouts of repetitive supramaximal anaerobic efforts within a given workout has received little attention. Thirty subjects performed three workouts that were identical in terms of the exercises (45o

leg

press, prone leg curl, seated shoulder press, standing barbell curl), the number of sets and the resistance employed. For each workout, subjects received one of the following treatments between sets: 1 minute of rest as they stood upright, 30 seconds of rest as they stood upright, or 30 seconds of concurrent massage and body part elevation (MBPE), which entailed petrissage of the exercised limbs in a raised and supported position in an attempt to abate fatigue and enhance recovery from the previous set. Subjects were instructed to perform as many repetitions as possible for each set. For each exercise, two dependent variables were calculated: a total work/elapsed time ratio and the cumulative number of repetitions performed. Results: We can imply that rest period duration exerts more influence than MBPE on resistance exercise performance.

sportEX comment People who seek improved resistance exercise performance should pay particular

attention to rest period durations. There is a lot more work to be done here, such as changing the rest intervals and varying the massage routines. This is a good prospect for budding researchers.

sportEX comment More good stuff from Dr Moraska.

Again, we are getting evidence of the efficacy of massage, suggesting that it may be a practical conservative intervention for compression neuropathies, such as CTS.

THE EFFECT OF DEEP-TISSUE MASSAGES THERAPY ON BLOOD PRESSURE AND

HEART RATE. Kaye AD, Kaye AJ, Swinford J, Baluch A,

et al. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2008;14:125–128.

This study involved 263 volunteers (12% males, 88% females), with an average age of 48.5 years. Overall muscle spasm/muscle strain was described as either moderate or severe for each patient. Baseline blood pressure and heart rate were measured via an automatic blood pressure cuff. Twenty-one different soothing CDs played in the background during the deep tissue massage. Results: An average systolic blood pressure reduction of 10.4mmHg, a diastolic blood pressure reduction of 5.3mmHg, a mean arterial pressure reduction of 7.0mmHg and an average heart rate reduction of 10.8 beats per minute were noted.

sportEX comment These are positive results, but still massage is described as “deep tissue”,

which is not specific enough for the study to be repeated with accuracy. There is also a question about another variable: what is causing the reduction in blood pressure – is it the massage or the soothing CD playing in the background?

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sportEX dynamics 2008;18(Oct):4-6