same therapists deliver both treatments, high treatment adherence and follow-up rates, and
long-term follow-up.
Future research should explore the relative contributions of non-specific context effects and
specific treatment effects on patient outcomes, whether different forms of massage produce
benefits through the same or through different physiological pathways, whether less
experienced therapists would produce similar results, whether fewer treatments could have
achieved equivalent outcomes, and whether education and self-care recommendations
contribute to the effectiveness of massage.
These results indicate that both relaxation and structural massage are reasonable treatment
options for persons with chronic low back pain. Possible advantages of relaxation massage
are that it is more readily accessible because it is based on techniques taught in virtually all
massage schools and is slightly less expensive than more specialized forms of massage
which require additional training.