Massage can certainly help some cases of chronic back pain. 

There is no universal best type of massage for chronic pain/chronic back pain. I know this doesn’t answer your question but bear with me for a moment to explain.

It will help you better understand what you should do to improve your chronic pain.

Massage might help you a lot, it might not even help at all, or in some people you may get worse and experience more pain.

The reason that the effects of massage, regardless of type of massage, vary is that every case of chronic back pain is different.

Your chronic back pain may be different in the original back problem, assuming there was a local back problem initially.

Your Back Pain may have started from an accident, a sports injury, a work lifting injury, a fall, arthritis, a disc injury, and so many other problems. Chronic pain is also seen in many different problems ranging from Fibromyalgia, to autoimmune disorders, and more.

Your chronic pain in you is also different in how you’re wired and how your nervous system works.

The problem is that feeling back pain can be from a local back issue all the way up to the highest areas of the nervous system. The pain is a perception. It doesn’t tell us the cause of the pain.

Chronic pain is different than acute or recent pain (like seen in a recent trauma like a car accident).

Chronic pain involves repetitive activity of the ‘pain‘ system (used in a very general generic way).

Over time, the repetitive firing essentially builds a stronger pain system.

This happens in the same way as repetitive biceps curls builds bigger, stronger biceps.

Treatment of chronic pain involves reducing activity in the pain system.

Certain nervous system activity turns off or turns down the pain activity because of the way we’re wired.

As it turns out, physical treatments like massage, PT, chiropractic, etc activate a system that has a probability of turning off the pain system.

Repetitive activation in the right way for the right person can create stronger activity in the system that turns off pain resulting in less pain.

The real issue is…

Is it the physical treatment the right treatment stimulus at the right time and in the right unique individual?

Is the right treatment a particular type of massage to a particular area for a specific time or is the right treatment a Chiropractic adjustment, some type of physical therapy, exercise, or another type of physical treatment… or all of the above?

What’s really wrong with you that is causing the chronic pain?

Not the pain, but where is the area of neurological dysfunction localized as precisely as possible.

It can be in so many different areas, localizing dysfunction gives us a better idea of what type of treatment might help because we have different areas that will have the probability of turning off or on the deficient area.

The next hurdle is how much treatment is necessary to cause a positive change in chronic pain?

If the wrong treatment is done whether it’s massage, PT, or Chiropractic at the wrong time then you may not improve or maybe even feel more pain.

If too much or too little treatment is done then you may not improve or possibly even feel more pain in the case of too much treatment.

Certain people will be unable to take certain treatments because they lack the central integrity of their nervous system.

Certain treatments will exceed the person’s capacity for energy production in certain areas of the nervous system causing a worsening of the pain and the individual. This is what happens when the physical treatment, like massage, is too much for the person at that particular time.

This is similar in a way to a person that has never run before going out a running a marathon. They will end up much worse than before starting.

If too little is done, nothing changes.

So, we have to consider the intensity and duration of the technique whether it’s exercise, massage, a Chiropractic adjustment, or physical therapy.

If the practitioner, regardless of type, that is treating you doesn’t understand chronic pain, how to do a proper neurological evaluation/true diagnosis, and apply functional neurology in treatment then it’s somewhat of a crap shoot whether you improve, see no change, or get worse.

This explains why one chronic pain patient gets better with a particular treatment while another doesn’t improve and others get worse. It comes down to properly evaluating the patient and applying the right treatment for them at the right time.

If you live in the Texarkana area and suffer from pain or chronic pain and would like to see Dr. Hagebusch who has helped over 7,000 local Texarkana area residents over the last 18 years in Texarkana – then contact us to set up an appointment.

We are dedicated to helping you get better as quickly as possible!