summary: Despite not being a cardinal clinical feature of MS, pain can appear in a non-negligible percentage of people with this disease. Currently available pharmacological treatments often fail to control this symptom, which can have a major effect on quality of life. Using a randomised, placebo-controlled, clinical trial, the authors investigated whether reflexology, was effective in treating pain in people with MS. They compared precision reflexology treatment, where the massage of zones on the feet corresponded to different parts of the body, with sham reflexology treatment, using a standardised foot massage applying less pressure on the reflex points and avoiding the representative points of common areas of pain associated with MS. They found that both groups significantly improved after ten weeks of treatment and that this improvement continued after 12 weeks of follow-up. However, no differences were seen between the precision reflexology and sham treatments.

authors: Hughes CM, Smyth S, Lowe-Strong AS

source: Mult Scler. 2009 Oct 13

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category: Clinical Trials and Therapeutics
category: Symptomatic Treatments and Rehabilitation

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