A randomised trial of the effectiveness of soft tissue massage in the treatment of shoulder pain

In patients with non-specific shoulder pain, is soft tissue massage and exercise as good as or better than exercise alone for relief of pain and improvement in shoulder function?

Status

Completed

Phases

Phase 1

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12607000336482

Enrollment

Registered

2007-06-22

Start date

2008-02-01

Completion date

2010-09-30

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

The experimental hypothesis is that the addition of specific soft tissue massage will improve range of motion and reported function and reduce reported pain. The findings of this study will assist therapists to decide whether to add specific soft tissue massage to a rotator cuff exercise programme when treating patients with shoulder pain of local mechanical origin.

Interventions

Intervention: Soft tissue massage (10 minutes, seven sessions, manual therapy) plus stretching and strengthening exercise (20 minutes, seven sessions, therapist prescribed/patient administered). Treatment received over four week period with no more than one treatment per day (2 treatment sessions per week in weeks 1 to 3, then 1 treatment session only in week 4).

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 80 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Referred to physiotherapy for management of shoulder pain * Able to understand spoken English* Both male and female

Exclusion criteria

Shoulder pain due to trauma in the previous 4 weeks* Shoulder pain is reproduced with any neck movement.* Shoulder pain due to neoplasm* Shoulder pain due to acute inflammatory condition* Other serious pathology* Worker’s Compensation claim relating to the shoulder pain

Outcome results