Time Magazine recently devoted an issue to chronic pain (March 7, 2011). All pain, but especially chronic pain, is still pretty much a mystery, both to those who suffer from it and the scientists who study it.

What is known is that it's complex. Time, quoting Dr. David Borsook of Harvard, asserts that

Chronic pain is really a disease of the central nervous system. As such, it is a disease that affects the sensory, emotional, motivational, cognitive and modulatory pathways. And the more we understand in particular the emotional pathways, the more we begin to understand that the tradition way we approach patients in pain may need to be revised.

The Power of Massage for Chronic Pain Management

Studies have confirmed the power of touch to relieve pain. According to Time, a 2010 study demonstrated that simple touch reduced participants self-reported perception of pain by 64%.

Scientists aren't sure how touch works, only that it works. However, a recent study by scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, measuring blood chemistry before and after massage, pointed to some of the biological foundations for the pain relieving effects of massage.

A single Swedish massage was found to significantly reduce the hormone AVP, which constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure, both of which cause spikes in pain. The study also measured reductions in post-massage levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Other studies have shown that not just massage, but also static touch, can have a significant impact on pain.

Massage has specifically been found to be effective in relieving cancer pain.

Energy Healing for Chronic Pain Management

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