Shoulder Pain Study

Evaluating the effects of the Jing Method of Clinical Massage on Chronic Non-Specific Shoulder Pain in Professional Drivers.

As part of my BTEC 6 Diploma Course, I completed a research study on how effective massage therapy could be to help treat shoulder pain in professional drivers ( such as bus drivers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc).

Shoulder pain is a common problem faced from this profession, along with lower back pain, knee pain and neck pain. I decided to focus my study on shoulder pain, as it not only interested me , but I wanted to help with that specific complaint.

Below is the abstract from that study , to view the complete study :

Dissertation Lauren Starkey March 2025 PDF.pdf

Download PDF • 1.61MB

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of the Jing Method of Advanced Clinical Massage in professional drivers with chronic shoulder pain.

METHOD

Three Participants from different driving occupations with non-specific chronic shoulder pain completed the study. They recorded their pain and disability using the shoulder and disability index (SPADI) once a week for 12 weeks, and once more at 16 weeks from the start of the study. Week 1-6 was a control period, where only SPADI was used. From week 7-12, the participants received a multimodal treatment intervention using the Jing Method Shoulder Girdle Protocol.

RESULTS

The results showed a reduction in pain and disability, with an overall reduction of 38% from base line to the end of the intervention.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that the Jing Method of Advanced Clinical Massage was beneficial in treating chronic shoulder pain in professional drivers. Further studies would benefit from a larger and more specific scale of participants and a questionnaire to record the psychosocial elements the participants experience each week.

The above graph represents the average percentage of pain and disability scores taken from week one to week 6 where there was no massage therapy given, then from week 7 to week 12, where a one hour treatment was performed and self care exercises given. Then no treatments given afterwards and a final questionnaire given on week 16 , to ascertain the longer term effects post treatment intervention.

As you can see, there was improvement each week of having massage therapy and the drivers performing their self care during the week.

So, the combination of both the hands on treatment and the self care were more effective than no treatment.

Now, this is just a small study, but I have found similar results with my own clients in my clinic.

If you would like to read more studies, my colleagues at The Jing Institute have written on some amazing and interesting topics:

Click Me