Very little research has been conducted into the effectiveness of soft tissue
massage as an intervention for the treatment of mechanical
shoulder pain. Studies that have been conducted suffer from methodological issues, poor long-term follow-up and have conflicting results. The aim of this study, therefore, is to provide treating clinicians with improved evidence regarding the effectiveness of soft tissue
massage for
shoulder pain of local mechanical origin. Participants referred to the trial with mechanical
shoulder pain will be assessed for range of motion, functional ability, and
pain by a blinded assessor. Participants will then be randomly allocated to either an exercise-only group or an exercise and soft tissue
massage group. Both groups will receive seven treatment sessions from a physical therapist over a period of 4 weeks. One week after the
cessation of treatment, all participants will be reassessed by the same blinded assessor. Three months after
cessation of treatment, subjects will again be reassessed. The primary outcome will be
pain measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS) 1 week following the
cessation of treatment. Secondary analyses will be
pain at 3 months, the descriptive and present
pain index sections of the short form McGill
pain questionnaire, patient specific functional scale, and percentage improvement in
pain scores and range of motion at 1 week following the
cessation of treatment and at 3 month follow-up. Analysis of data will be carried out by a statistician who is blinded to group membership. Primary analyses will by intention-to-treat.