26/08/2026
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💆 Massage and Chronic Pain: Understanding a New 2026 Study 🔎
A 2026 study by Naimi Shirazi and colleagues, published in Pain Management, looked at 226 people attending a multidisciplinary pain clinic at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, USA. The average age was 45 years and 81% were women. 👥
Patients completed an intake questionnaire covering 56 treatments they had previously tried for chronic pain. They rated each as helpful, unhelpful, never tried or unsure. Of those who had tried massage, 77% rated it as helpful — the highest percentage of all 56 treatments. Oxycodone was rated helpful by 74%, psychotherapy by 67%, hydromorphone by 67%, physical therapy by 62% and aquatic therapy by 62%. 📊
For the massage profession, the significance of this finding extends beyond the percentage itself. The result showcases the value and perception of massage as a whole among people living with chronic pain. In this sample, massage was not simply viewed as an optional addition to care; it was the treatment most frequently identified as helpful by those who had tried it. That is an important patient-centred finding and provides a useful perspective on how massage is experienced within a broader pain management pathway. 🤝
The result is a patient-reported outcome, based on each person’s own judgement of whether a treatment had helped them. Because participants selected from fixed categories, the findings are categorical quantitative data based on subjective self-report, rather than qualitative data gathered from detailed descriptions of their experiences. The word ‘helpful’ may therefore include several different outcomes, such as reduced pain, easier movement, better sleep, relaxation, improved coping or a positive treatment experience. 💬
The study does not explain exactly why participants found massage helpful, establish that massage alone caused improvement or support claims about a specific physiological mechanism. However, this does not diminish the importance of the finding. Patient experience is a meaningful part of evaluating care, particularly in chronic pain, where comfort, confidence, function and whether treatment feels worthwhile are inherently personal outcomes. ❤️
The value of massage is also shaped by context. People arrive with different expectations, preferences, previous experiences and beliefs about their body and treatment. Communication, therapeutic relationship, environment, choice, pressure, practitioner responsiveness and the meaning attached to the treatment may all influence how massage is experienced.
These contextual factors help explain why modern massage education is increasingly encompassing more than technique and anatomy. An evidence-informed approach also considers the person receiving treatment, the therapeutic relationship and the wider circumstances in which care takes place. 🌿
The Shirazi study gives massage a strong patient-reported result: 77% of those who had tried massage described it as helpful, making it the highest-rated treatment in this sample. For GCMT, this offers an opportunity to highlight both the perceived value of massage and the importance of understanding the complete treatment experience. It supports a modern view of massage that recognises technical skill alongside communication, individual context and patient-centred care. ✨
Reference
Naimi Shirazi, K., Flegge, L.G., Miller, M.L., Wakefield, A.E., Williams, K. and Bushey, M.A. (2026). Perceived helpfulness of 56 treatment options in patients with chronic pain: a retrospective review. Pain Management.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42605847/
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