Effectiveness of Self-Tennis Ball Massage Therapy on Low Back Pain Among Geriatric Individuals

TL;DR

This study shows that using a tennis ball for self-massage can significantly reduce low back pain in older adults.

Contribution

The study introduces self-administered tennis ball massage as a novel, accessible, and effective therapy for geriatric low back pain.

Findings

Tennis ball massage therapy significantly reduced low back pain in elderly participants.

Pain scores dropped from an average of 6.34 to 2.84 after six days of therapy.

The results were statistically significant with a p-value of 0.00001.

Abstract

Introduction

Pain is a physiological and psychological response. For many people, it is a major problem that causes unpleasantness or aversion and reduces productivity in life. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), pain is defined as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage". Low back pain is commonly faced by each individual. Nearly everyone is affected by it at some point. A staggering 619 million people worldwide suffered from low back pain in 2020 (nearly 10% of the world's population), and by 2050, that number is expected to reach 843 million. The treatment options for low back pain are the same all over the world such as applying muscle relaxant ointments or sprays, resting the back for a while, avoiding heavy physical activities for a couple of days, applying heat or cold compress, etc.

Objective

The primary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of self-administered tennis ball massage therapy for low back pain. There are many benefits of massage therapy that show effective results. As an accepted part of many physical rehabilitation programs, massage therapy has also proven effective results for many chronic conditions, including low back pain, arthritis, bursitis, and fatigue. Low back pain is a common health issue that will affect eight out of 10 adults at some point in their lives. Although back pain is common, there are numerous effective methods to reduce muscle tension and provide relief.

Methodology

Pretest-posttest control group design was used, which included community-dwelling elderly individuals aged 60 years and above. Fifty participants in the experimental group and 50 in the control group were included in the present study. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Ethical Committee. The researchers conducted a survey in the community area and participants were included as per ageing factors for those experiencing back pain. Individuals with severe cognitive impairment, contraindications to massage therapy, having gone through a surgical procedure and long-term bedridden were excluded. Pain scores were assessed using the WHO Numerical Pain Rating Scale (0: No pain, 1-3: Mild pain, 4-6: Moderate pain, 7-10: Severe pain) (see Appendices). In the primary stage pretest pain assessment was done and the next day onwards tennis ball massage was administered to the experimental group of geriatric individuals. On the sixth day, the posttest pain assessment was done.

Result

On day 1 (pre-test), before giving tennis ball massage therapy on low back pain, mean = 6.34, S.D. = 0.9606 in the experimental group. On day 6 (post-test), after giving tennis ball massage therapy on low back pain, mean = 2.84, S.D. = 0.8417 in the experimental group, and t = 23.9505 and p = 0.00001. Hence the result shows that the tennis ball massage is effective in reducing low back pain.

Conclusion

Since the test is statistically significant according to the pre-test and post-test in the experimental group at the 5% level of significance, the null hypothesis is rejected because the p-value for this comparison is smaller than 0.05. This indicates that self-administered tennis ball massage therapy is significantly effective for lower back pain.

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