Category Archives: science

And again! More muscle knot squishing science, different experiment, same results

By Paul Ingraham | Published: July 14, 2010
Odd! Just a couple days after posting about a not-yet-published study of trigger point squishing — quite a rare subject for research — I came across (via @massagetherapy) an almost identical study that is published. They also reported news that makes massage therapists smile: …using ischemic compression on shoulder trigger points may reduce the symptoms of [...]
Also posted in evidence-based medicine, massage, massage therapy, massage tools, placebo, research, self-massage, self-treatment, therapy, treatment, trigger points | Leave a comment

Science updates on acupunture, strengthening for neck pain and low back pain, and the physiology of muscle fatigue

By Paul Ingraham | Published: May 25, 2010
Once again I present some new bibliographic records for your reading pleasure — no, seriously. These are not dry “abstracts” (although those are also available if you click through). The whole point of the SaveYourself.ca bibliography is to explain pain science as painlessly as possible. More and more I realize that the bibliography is turning [...]
Also posted in exercise, fatigue, pain, research | Leave a comment

Do Epsom salts go up your bum?

By Paul Ingraham | Published: May 13, 2010
Epsom salts supposedly relieve aches and pains, especially muscle pain, but there are many problems with this idea, which I have written about in truly ridiculous detail (believe it or not). It’s not at all clear how salts can get through the skin barrier, which is pretty substantial. But a simple 2006 experiment showed that [...]
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Registered for TAM8 and science-based medicine workshops

By Paul Ingraham | Published: April 20, 2010
Once again I will be travelling to Las Vegas this summer to participate in “TAM” — The Amazing Meeting, a critical thinking and (who are we kidding) geek convention. I went to my first TAM last year, and wrote a bizarrely long and cheeky account of the experience that was strangely popular. This year I [...]
Also posted in business, evidence-based medicine, personal | Leave a comment

Classic article, classic quote

By Paul Ingraham | Published: April 5, 2010
From Dr. Edzard Ernst’s classic 2000 article in the British Medical Journal: “Those who believe that regulation is a substitute for evidence will find that even the most meticulous regulation of nonsense must still result in nonsense.” This is often quoted, but rarely with the source cited or a link to the full article. It’s short, accessible [...]
Also posted in acupuncture, quackery, regulation | Leave a comment

Research in the massage therapy field is still in its infancy

By Paul Ingraham | Published: March 29, 2010
Harriet Hall, RMT, PDP, from “Vision of Specialization for Registered Massage Therapists”: Research in the massage therapy field is still in infancy partly due to a lack of research infrastructure and a research tradition. The result is that most registered massage therapists are not accustomed to reading, analyzing, conducting, writing case studies or applying research in [...]
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People are not reliable

By Paul Ingraham | Published: March 16, 2010
Ask any judge or lawyer: people are not reliable. What people report as “witnessed” is rarely accurate. In health care, half of all recovery times from illness and injury are above average — and many of those people will say nice things about whatever therapy they were spending money on at the time. But their stories [...]
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Fasciculations are fascinating

By Paul Ingraham | Published: January 21, 2010
Muscle fibres do not normally contract all at once, as most people imagine. Instead they are organized into groups called “motor units,” one per motor nerve. Rather than firing all at once, the groups alternate their contractions, like pistons. At any given time, thousands of motor units are in different phases of contraction and relaxation. [...]
Also posted in muscle physiology | Leave a comment

Dr. Ronald Melzack inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

By Paul Ingraham | Published: November 26, 2009
Congratulations to fellow Canadian, Dr. Ronald Melzack! Everything I do has been influenced by Dr. Melzack’s research. Even after years of study and writing, I still have a long way to go before I understand all the implications of his work — indeed, it’s probably impossible to do so, because those implications are still emerging [...]
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