AIO Healing

Massage therapists are rubbing patients the right way

BY HILARY E. MACGREGOR

Los Angeles Times Service

You lie on the crisp white sheet of the massage table in semidarkness. The scent of almond oil fills the air. Then come the hands, gently kneading the necklace of knots that rings your back, your neck, your shoulders. You close your eyes, breathe deeply and let yourself relax. Beyond the pleasures of the moment, though, are there medical benefits to massage?

Hospitals and medical clinics around the United States are beginning to integrate massage into patient care. It's the most common nontraditional therapy offered in U.S. hospitals, according to an American Hospital Association survey in 2003.

Cancer patients at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Va., are offered therapeutic massage by one of eight therapists, Longmont United Hospital in Colorado has a massage therapist on staff 24/7 and New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has 11 massage therapists.

The National Institutes of Health is funding several studies to examine the medical benefits of massage. Previous studies have found that massage can help reduce chronic pain, diminish anxiety and depression, and enhance immune function.

A new survey by the American Massage Therapy Association, a professional organization, shows that nearly half of Americans have used massage therapy as a way to manage and relieve pain. Still, many doctors remain skeptical of the research suggesting a medical benefit to massage, saying more rigorous studies are needed.

But doctors, nurses and patients who have seen massage in action say that even if the benefits can't be demonstrated by large clinical studies, the anecdotal evidence is powerful.

''Clearly there are medical benefits to massage,'' said Dr. Gregory P. Fontana, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who conducted a pilot study to measure the effectiveness of nontraditional therapies, such as massage, in helping speed recover after heart surgery.

Ninety-five percent of the 50 massage patients reported that massage was a ''very important'' part of their recovery, Fontana said. Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, director of UCLA's Center for East-West Medicine in Santa Monica, Calif., goes further: "A lot of people think massage is good for aches and pains. But what we have found is that massage activates the body's own healing system.''

Patients at UCLA'S East-West Center see a team made up of a Western-trained doctor, an acupuncturist and a massage therapist.

Often referred by their physicians, many of the patients come to the center because traditional Western remedies, such as prescription drugs, have not worked for them. About half of the center's patients receive some massage therapy as part of their treatment program, which may also include traditional medicine.

On a recent morning, Anna McGuirk, 45, sat on the edge of a massage table in a hospital gown. About five years ago she began to experience migraines so severe that doctors gave her morphine and Demerol. Her primary care doctor sent her to a neurologist, who put her on pain relievers and antidepressants. Nothing worked.

Finally the neurologist referred her to the East-West Center, where she was treated by Dr. Jun Liang Yu, a Chinese-born doctor trained in Western medicine in Asia, who practices acupuncture and massage therapy.

''That was the first time anyone had touched my neck or shoulders'' in a medical setting, McGuirk said of her massage treatments with Yu. She is convinced that massage has been a key factor in her improvement. "Without it, I'd be back to migraines three to four times a week.''

Brandi Hugo, 30, who suffers from interstitial cystitis -- a chronic inflammation of the bladder -- is another East-West Center patient who attributes her improvement primarily to massage. After years of ineffective treatment with antibiotics, she was treated at UCLA with acupuncture, a few muscle relaxants and massage. She has been off antibiotics for two years.

Hui does not believe massage is a panacea. Nor does he believe it can replace surgery or medications. But he does believe it is "an important frontline approach for a lot of chronic problems, or prevention of chronic problems.''

With hospitals struggling with rising medical costs, the idea of hiring massage therapists will continue to be a tough sell, some health professionals say. Over time, however, massage advocates hope that research that supports the safety, benefit and, perhaps, even the cost-effectiveness of medical massage will help persuade more hospitals to give it a try.

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