Effectiveness of Soft Tissue Massage for Nonspecific Shoulder Pain: Randomized Controlled Trial

This report has been verified by one or more authors of the original publication.

80 patients between the ages of 18-80 were randomized to receive exercise therapy with or without soft tissue massage for treatment of nonspecific shoulder pain. The purpose of the study was to determine if soft tissue massage provided additional benefits to pain, disability, or range of motion when used as a concurrent therapy to exercise. The use of massage therapy showed no significant benefits to any outcome measure compared to treatment with exercise alone. Additionally, patients receiving exercise alone had significantly greater improvements to pain 12 weeks after treatment completion, and higher proportions of patients meeting the minimal clinically important difference for pain and disability at 1 week after treatment completion. No differences between groups were noted for range of motion, global pain assessment, disability score, or the proportion of patients meeting the minimal clinically important difference for pain and disability 12 weeks after treatment completion.