Supervisors info:
Αναστάσιος Φιλίππου, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Μιχαήλ Κουτσιλέρης, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Μαρία Μαριδάκη, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Musculoskeletal disorders are a group of diseases characterized by inflammation, pain
or structural damage due to an injury at nerves, muscles, tendons, blood vessels or
other supportive structures that are associated with the musculoskeletal system.
Nowadays there have been proposed many different therapies for musculoskeletal
disorders, including massage therapy.
The main aim of the present study was the investigation of the effect of
massage therapy on the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders and musculoskeletal
pain, and most specifically, on the treatment of osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome,
epicondylitis and fibromyalgia. For this purpose, a search was conducted in the
literature and most specifically, in the databases “Google Scholar” and “Pubmed”,
while the most basic keywords were the following ones: musculoskeletal disorders,
musculoskeletal pain, osteoarthritis, tendinopathy, carpal tunnel syndrome,
fibromyalgia, massage therapy, and massage treatment.
According to the results, massage therapy is a very effective therapeutic
approach for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders since it is able to reduce the
pain intensity, to increase (or to decrease ?) the stiffness and (improve ?) the function
of the affected limbs, to improve the everyday life, and to increase the quality of life
of the patients. However, many times, the efficacy of the massage therapy differs
between its individual species types, such as the Swedish, the Chinese and the Thai
massage therapy, and among the several situations under which it is conducted, such
as the essential oil used. Thus, more studies are required in order to found the most
effective type of massage therapy for each musculoskeletal disorder, the ideal
conditions of the massage therapy, and the appropriate frequency and duration, for the
best short - term and long - term benefits.
Keywords:
Musculoskeletaldisorders, Musculoskeletal pain, Treatment, Massage therapy, Efficacy
