Top 25 Open Access Papers for Massage Therapists

Here is a list of open access papers to help bridge the gap between research and the clinical application of massage therapy.

Top 25 Open Access Papers for Massage Therapists

The global health burden associated with musculoskeletal conditions continues to increase in both developing and developed countries. This is why my latest project has been to put together a series of resources that will help support the professional growth of massage therapists around the world.

After 10+ years of reading massage therapy research here is a list of open access papers to help bridge the gap between research and the clinical application of massage therapy.

Bialosky, J. E., Beneciuk, J. M., Bishop, M. D., Coronado, R. A., Penza, C. W., Simon, C. B., & George, S. Z. (2018). Unraveling the Mechanisms of Manual Therapy: Modeling an Approach. The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 48(1), 8–18. https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2018.7476

Coninx, S., & Stilwell, P. (2021). Pain and the field of affordances: an enactive approach to acute and chronic pain. Synthese, 199(3), 7835-7863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-021-03142-3

Degenhardt, B., van Dun, P. L. S., Jacobson, E., Fritz, S., Mettler, P., Kettner, N., Franklin, G., Hensel, K., Lesondak, D., Consorti, G., Frank, L., Reed, W. R., MacDonald, C., Kremen, V., Martin, C., Landels, B., & Standley, P. (2024). Profession-based manual therapy nomenclature: exploring history, limitations, and opportunities. The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 32(1), 96–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/10669817.2023.2288495

Draper-Rodi, J., Newell, D., Barbe, M. F., & Bialosky, J. (2024). Integrated manual therapies: IASP taskforce viewpoint. Pain reports, 9(6), e1192. https://doi.org/10.1097/PR9.0000000000001192

George, S. Z., Lentz, T. A., & Goertz, C. M. (2021). Back and neck pain: in support of routine delivery of non-pharmacologic treatments as a way to improve individual and population health. Translational research: the journal of laboratory and clinical medicine, 234, 129–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trsl.2021.04.006

Hartvigsen, J., Kamper, S. J., & French, S. D. (2022). Low-value care in musculoskeletal health care: Is there a way forward?. Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain, 22 Suppl 2(Suppl 2), 65–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/papr.13142

Hutting, N., Caneiro, J. P., Ong'wen, O. M., Miciak, M., & Roberts, L. (2022). Person-centered care for musculoskeletal pain: Putting principles into practice. Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, 102663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msksp.2022.102663

Izquierdo, M., de Souto Barreto, P., Arai, H., Bischoff-Ferrari, H. A., Cadore, E. L., Cesari, M., Chen, L. K., Coen, P. M., Courneya, K. S., Duque, G., Ferrucci, L., Fielding, R. A., García-Hermoso, A., Gutiérrez-Robledo, L. M., Harridge, S. D. R., Kirk, B., Kritchevsky, S., Landi, F., Lazarus, N., Liu-Ambrose, T., … Fiatarone Singh, M. A. (2024). Global consensus on optimal exercise recommendations for enhancing healthy longevity in older adults (ICFSR). The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 100401. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnha.2024.100401

Kapos, F. P., Craig, K. D., Anderson, S. R., Bernardes, S. F., Hirsh, A. T., Karos, K., Keogh, E., Reynolds Losin, E. A., McParland, J. L., Moore, D. J., & Ashton-James, C. E. (2024). Social Determinants and Consequences of Pain: Toward Multilevel, Intersectional, and Life Course Perspectives. The journal of pain, 25(10), 104608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2024.104608

Kerns, R. D., Burgess, D. J., Coleman, B. C., Cook, C. E., Farrokhi, S., Fritz, J. M., Goertz, C., Heapy, A., Lisi, A. J., Rhon, D. I., & Vining, R. (2022). Self-Management of Chronic Pain: Psychologically Guided Core Competencies for Providers. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 23(11), 1815–1819. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnac083

Kerry, R., Young, K. J., Evans, D. W., Lee, E., Georgopoulos, V., Meakins, A., McCarthy, C., Cook, C., Ridehalgh, C., Vogel, S., Banton, A., Bergström, C., Mazzieri, A. M., Mourad, F., & Hutting, N. (2024). A modern way to teach and practice manual therapy. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 32(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-024-00537-0

Kim, J., Esteves, J. E., Cerritelli, F., & Friston, K. (2022). An Active Inference Account of Touch and Verbal Communication in Therapy. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 828952. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.828952

Kongsted, A., Ris, I., Kjaer, P., & Hartvigsen, J. (2021). Self-management at the core of back pain care: 10 key points for clinicians. Brazilian journal of physical therapy, 25(4), 396–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjpt.2021.05.002

Langevin, H. M. (2024). Addressing gaps in pain research from an integrated whole person perspective. Pain, 165(11S), S23–S32. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003359

Lebert, R., Noy, M., Purves, E., & Tibbett, J. (2022). Massage Therapy: A Person-Centred Approach to Chronic Pain. International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork, 15(3), 27–34. https://doi.org/10.3822/ijtmb.v15i3.713

Lin, I., Wiles, L., Waller, R., Goucke, R., Nagree, Y., Gibberd, M., Straker, L., Maher, C. G., & O'Sullivan, P. (2020). What does best practice care for musculoskeletal pain look like? Eleven consistent recommendations from high-quality clinical practice guidelines: systematic review. British journal of sports medicine, 54(2), 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099878

Mak, S., Allen, J., Begashaw, M., Miake-Lye, I., Beroes-Severin, J., De Vries, G., Lawson, E., & Shekelle, P. G. (2024). Use of Massage Therapy for Pain, 2018-2023: A Systematic Review. JAMA network open, 7(7), e2422259. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.22259

Mao, J. J., Ismaila, N., Bao, T., Barton, D., Ben-Arye, E., Garland, E. L., Greenlee, H., Leblanc, T., Lee, R. T., Lopez, A. M., Loprinzi, C., Lyman, G. H., MacLeod, J., Master, V. A., Ramchandran, K., Wagner, L. I., Walker, E. M., Bruner, D. W., Witt, C. M., & Bruera, E. (2022). Integrative Medicine for Pain Management in Oncology: Society for Integrative Oncology-ASCO Guideline. Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 40(34), 3998–4024. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.22.01357

McParlin, Z., Cerritelli, F., Rossettini, G., Friston, K. J., & Esteves, J. E. (2022). Therapeutic Alliance as Active Inference: The Role of Therapeutic Touch and Biobehavioural Synchrony in Musculoskeletal Care. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 16, 897247. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.897247

Nijs, J., Malfliet, A., Roose, E., Lahousse, A., Van Bogaert, W., Johansson, E., Runge, N., Goossens, Z., Labie, C., Bilterys, T., Van Campenhout, J., Polli, A., Wyns, A., Hendrix, J., Xiong, H. Y., Ahmed, I., De Baets, L., & Huysmans, E. (2024). Personalized Multimodal Lifestyle Intervention as the Best-Evidenced Treatment for Chronic Pain: State-of-the-Art Clinical Perspective. Journal of clinical medicine, 13(3), 644. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13030644

Packheiser, J., Hartmann, H., Fredriksen, K., Gazzola, V., Keysers, C., & Michon, F. (2024). A systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis of the physical and mental health benefits of touch interventions. Nature human behaviour, 8(6), 1088–1107. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01841-8

Quinlan, E. B., Baumgartner, J., Chen, W. G., Weber, W., Horgusluoglu, E., & Edwards, E. (2024). Promoting salutogenic pathways to health through complementary and integrative health approaches. Frontiers in psychology, 15, 1473735. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1473735

Reid, H., Ridout, A. J., Tomaz, S. A., Kelly, P., Jones, N., & Physical Activity Risk Consensus group (2022). Benefits outweigh the risks: a consensus statement on the risks of physical activity for people living with long-term conditions. British journal of sports medicine, 56(8), 427–438. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-104281

Slater, H., & Briggs, A. M. (2024). Strengthening the pain care ecosystem to support equitable, person-centered, high-value musculoskeletal pain care. Pain, 165(11S), S92–S107. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003373

Zegarra-Parodi, R., D'Alessandro, G., Baroni, F., Swidrovich, J., Mehl-Madrona, L., Gordon, T., Ciullo, L., Castel, E., & Lunghi, C. (2024). Epistemological Flexibility in Person-Centered Care: The Cynefin Framework for (Re)Integrating Indigenous Body Representations in Manual Therapy. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 12(11), 1149. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12111149