Massage helps patients recover after heart surgery

The report appears on the Mayo Clinic website.

Here are the highlights.

58 patients undergoing surgery were studied to determine the effect of massage on post-surgery pain. Before the massage therapy, these patients rated their pain at an average of 3 on a 10-point scale (10 most painful).

Of the 30 who received massage, the pain scores averaged less than 1. In the control group of 28, pain levels remained the same over the same period,

The bottom line?
As a result Mayo now has a full-time massage therapist available for patients after heart surgery, and a larger study is under way.

The study will be published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. When I find it, I’ll link to it.

11/1/07 21:06 JR