Massage Beats Painkillers for Soothing Back Pain, Study Finds

The cause of back pain is often tricky to pin down, and finding natural back pain relief techniques that actually work can be even more complicated. Medical imaging can fail to find a problem, leaving people who live with back pain hurting or reaching for medications that have side effects. But a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine lends even more scientific muscle behind the idea that massage is a great option for nonspecific back pain. In fact, massage created more relief than muscle relaxants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and painkillers. In the study, researchers looked at 400 people with chronic back pain and found that two types of massage offered lower-back pain relief for up to six months after treatment.

Rub out stress: If you don't have the money or time for a full-body massage, consider hand massages to improve your mood and ease pain.

The two types of massage, relaxation massage focusing on easing tension, and structured massage aiming to alleviate musculoskeletal factors that contribute to back pain, both led to a decrease in back pain symptoms and disability after 10 weeks of treatment.

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The benefits of massage are far-reaching, including boosted immunity, relief of neck pain, improved athletic performance, stress reduction, blood pressure regulation, improved mood, and even relief of constipation.

For more back pain treatments, including those for natural back pain relief, try these 9 back-pain remedies that really work.