Massage therapy has short-term benefits for people with common musculoskeletal disorders compared to no treatment: a systematic review

26 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a total of 2565 patients were included in this systematic review to determine whether massage therapy is an effective method to treat patients diagnosed with common musculoskeletal complaints, such as shoulder pain, knee osteoarthritis, low back pain, and neck pain. Pooled analysis of a limited number of studies for each complaint demonstrated favourable results for massage therapy compared to no intervention of pain and function associated with shoulder complaints and knee osteoarthritis, while no significant clinically relevant benefits were observed in cases of low back pain and neck pain. Analyses of massage therapy to other active treatment modalities were limited to qualitative commenting of single studies.