Massage in the Laboratory

Rats are common laboratory study subjects in scientific and medical research. But until now, massage research almost always has been conducted on human subjects. “Tissue-Level Efficacy of Cross-Fiber Massage Following Ligament Injury,” a study funded by a 2006 Massage Therapy Foundation grant, may change that.

The study explores how rats respond to a cross-fiber massage protocol for treating injury to the medial collateral ligament (MCL). The researchers hope it will reveal how the same protocol affects humans with ligament or tendon injuries common in sports and other activities.

Massage and physical therapist Terry Loghmani, working with principal investigator Stuart Warden, Ph.D., is performing the massage portion of the study. A doctoral student at Indiana University, she developed the study as part of her thesis after noting the effectiveness of cross-fiber massage with her own clientele.

In the study, 25 rats with surgically cut MCLs receive cross-fiber massage around the area of injury with a stainless-steel tool, three times per week for 10 weeks.  “The instrument helps to get more precise localization and pressure,” Loghmani explains. The rats are anesthetized to ensure they keep still for the one-minute massage treatment.

At the end of the study, the treated ligaments will be harvested and tested for strength, stiffness and how much energy they can endure. A short-term study using the same protocol found that the treatment accelerates ligament healing. “We are looking at the underlying mechanical properties of the ligament in response to this sort of treatment,” Loghmani says.

Future studies, she says, should investigate the protocol’s healing mechanism from the molecular level, as well as include human subjects.

As for whether she believes rats will become more common in massage-therapy research, Loghmani says it would be helpful.

 “I think it’s needed because we all know that massage feels good, but there really hasn’t been an understanding [of massage’s effects] on a tissue level, what the physiological effects are, to show the efficacy of what we’re doing,” she says.