THE EFFECT OF FOOT REFLEXOLOGY MASSAGE ON SEVERITY OF PAIN IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN

Low back pain has negative effects on different aspects of the patient’s life.
Thus there are different methods for relieving low back pain. This study was performed to evaluate the
effect of foot reflexology massage on severity of pain in patients with chronic low back pain.
Materials & Methods: In a clinical randomized trial consisting of totally 150 patients who were
suffering from chronic low back pain. Using random allocation sampling method we divided all
patients in three groups, each group consisting of 50 patients. These were: 1-expriment group (giving
massage in the determined location) 2-control group (without any intervention) 3- placebo group
(giving massage in all regions for three sessions). All three groups received routine physiotherapy.
Pain severity was assessed using McGill short form pain questionnaire and then compared between
groups.
Result: The results of study indicated that pain reduced in three group, but reduction of pain in foot
reflexology group was more than other two group (p<0. 05).
Conclusion: our finding shows that foot reflexology massage is effective in reducing the pain severity
in patient with chronic low back pain and can be adopted as a safe and complementary therapeutic
method