Trial reportJournal of athletic training2025
Pain Reduction Following Massage After Induced Fatigue Is Not Mediated by Changes in Muscle Stiffness or Intramuscular Fluid Content: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Mediation Analysis.
Trial report in Journal of athletic training, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Mechanisms and Efficacy of Massage Therapy for Post-Exercise Muscle Repair: A Narrative Review.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Context: Massage therapy is a common intervention for athletic recovery. However, its effects on fatigue, muscle stiffness, and intramuscular fluid content or the mechanism for pain reduction remain uncertain. Objectives: To evaluate the immediate and subacute effects (24-72 hours) of massage on pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness, and intramuscular fluid content in university athletes after an induced fatigue protocol. Additionally, we investigated whether changes in muscle stiffness and intramuscular fluid content mediate the effects of massage on pain and fatigue. Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting: Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Eighty-six university athletes, who completed a quadriceps fatigue protocol involving isokinetic concentric contractions. Interventions: Participants received either 10-minute massage therapy targeting the quadriceps or a sham control intervention. They were applied immediately after the fatigue protocol and repeated 48 hours later. Main Outcome Measures: Pain and fatigue were assessed using numeric rating scales. Muscle stiffness and intramuscular fluid content were evaluated using ultrasound elastography and echo intensity, respectively. Results: Massage therapy reduced pain immediately after the intervention compared with the sham group by -1.4 points (95% confidence interval = -2.8, -0.1). No differences were observed for pain at subsequent time points or for fatigue, muscle stiffness, or intramuscular fluid content at any time. Mediation analysis did not reveal indirect effects of changes in muscle stiffness or intramuscular fluid content on changes in pain or fatigue. Conclusions: Massage therapy provides immediate pain relief after induced fatigue but does not produce lasting effects on pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness, or intramuscular fluid content. The observed pain reduction was not mediated by changes in muscle stiffness or intramuscular fluid content.
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