Apples for Health- Massage Reduces Pain After Heart Surgery

Massage Reduces Pain After Heart Surgery

ROCHESTER, Minn., Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Massage therapy decreases pain levels for patients after heart surgery, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., report.

Lead author Susanne Cutshall, a registered nurse in Mayo Clinic's cardiovascular surgery group, had 58 heart patients rate their pain on a scale of one to 10 -- with 10 being the most painful.

During a five-month period in 2005, 30 of the 58 patients received massage following surgery.

The study, published in the Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, found that before the massage therapy, the patients rated their pain at an average of three on the 10-point scale, but patients who received massage had a mean pain score of less than one.

As a result of this pilot study, the Mayo Clinic now has a full-time massage therapist available for patients after heart surgery, Cutshall said.

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