Massage therapy can provide lasting results

Getting a massage is a common practice for temporary pain relief, but researchers from Richard Roudebush VA and Indiana University found that massage therapy could significantly reduce neck pain severity for up to six months after treatment. Researchers randomly assigned 290 Veterans to either a waitlist control group or a therapeutic massage group who received hourlong professional therapeutic massages twice weekly over the course of three months. The researchers measured neck disability and pain for one, three and six months after completion, and found that the Veterans who received therapeutic massage still had their neck disability pain scores reduced by three points after three months, and then by one point after six months. The findings suggest that massage therapy is a practical, non-pharmacological approach to pain management, but there may be a need for ongoing efforts to maintain lowered pain scores. (Pain Medicine, Aug. 28, 2025)