According to a study conducted by the Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, nurses that suffered from back pain benefited greatly from being massaged.
During the study, 50 female and male nurses who claimed that they were suffering from chronic lower back pain went through 40 minute sessions of massage three times a week for two weeks. Half of the group went through reflexology massages, which targeted specific parts of the body associated with back pain, and the other group went through general massages.
At the end of the trial , participants who went through reflexology massage reported a higher amount of lower back pain reduction than the general massage group. However, both groups reported a significant reduction in lower back pain.
This study proves that any type of massage can help reduce lower back pain, but massages targeting specific parts of the body associated with lower back pain results in a much higher reduction of pain.
Feet and Back Pain
Posture and foot health has been proven to be associated with back pain.
The edge of the feet have pain-points associated with pain in the back and, when massaging them, it is very possible to cause this pain and stiffness in the spine disappear. You can massage them yourself or have someone else massage them for you, both methods are equally as effective.
How it is done:
Sit down on the floor in a cross-legged position and take one foot in your hand.
The line between your big toe and your heel is what represents your spine.
Separate the line in your head into the different sections of the spine (coccyx, sacrum, lumbar, thoracic and cervical) .
Gently massage this line from the front to the back of your toe. By applying pressure to these points you will be directly effecting your spine.
Sources:
Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3696219/
Feet and back pain: http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/ergonomics/clinical-research-orthotics-and-lower-back-pain
Feet pain points: http://www.faqs.org/oc/Overcoming-Backache/The-body-s-back-bone-on-the-feet.html
Image Source:
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Original article and credits: FamilyLifeGoals.com