Why is this study being done?​

I’ve been a massage therapist for 20years now, regularly working with individuals suffering from a wide range of pain conditions. My commitment to continually developing as a massage therapist and keeping my knowledge/skills current led me to enroll on the BTEC Level 6 in Advanced Clinical and Sports Massage; a degree qualification that’s the highest level of education a manual therapist can achieve in the UK. It’s offered by a team of passionate and experienced massage therapists at Jing Advanced Massage Training and overseen by experts in the field of Musculoskeletal Pain, Education, Sports Science and Psychology.

Over the years I've developed a keen interest in the strong link between chronic pain and mental health which is why I've decided to focus on these areas for my study.

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What's involved?​

In weeks 1 to 6 (expected to begin 28th July 2025) each Monday participants will be sent the participant data survey, consisting of a DASS-42 (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Score survey used to monitor these elements of mental health), a visual pain scale for rating the severity of their pain and a question about how often they experienced the pain in the past week. This is to be completed and returned by Tuesday evening.

 

In weeks 7 to 12 (expected to begin 8th September 2025), each week participants attend my clinic for a 60-minute appointment, receive a 50-minute massage using techniques from the Jing Method™ chronic pain and stress protocol. They'll be given a simple homecare exercise that will take 5-minutes (this will gradually build in length to a maximum of 10-minutes by the end of the 6-week period), to be completed daily between treatments.

Six days after each treatment the ‘participant data survey’ (with one extra question about how many times over the week you completed the home care exercise) will be sent, to be completed within 24hours or before the next in-person appointment, whichever is soonest.​

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In week 16 the ‘participant data survey’ will be sent one last time to see if there is any lasting effect from the course of treatment received. This will also ask if participants continued to use the home care exercise and give the opportunity for them to provide any feedback.

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Participation is completely voluntary; participants can withdraw from the study at any time without giving a reason.

Is there a cost?​

There is a charge of £240 to secure your place in this study. This is a significant saving compared with my normal clinic charges for a 6-week package of treatment. Full payment is required before the study begins on July 28th (if it helps to spread this over 2 payments this can be done). If you withdraw before the study begins a full refund will be given. If you withdraw during the first 6 weeks of the study a partial refund will be calculated of the total amount paid minus an admin fee of £40 + £12.50 per week of the study that has passed. From week 7 no refunds will be given (exceptional circumstances will be considered).

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Who can't take part?

There are certain things that will mean you’re unable to take part:

-        If you’re about to make changes to the way you currently manage either your chronic pain or your mental health (by way of starting new medications or treatments with new specialists/therapists).

-        If you’re currently under medical investigation.

-        If you’ve received a diagnosis of, or are currently undergoing treatment for, any terminal condition.

-        If you’ve started a new medication relating to mental health or pain, in the last 3 months.

 

If any of these points mean you can’t take part in the study, it doesn’t mean that clinical massage won’t be of great benefit to you – please talk to me if you’re still interested in receiving treatment outside of the study.

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It’s important that from the start of your application process to the final follow-up in week 16, you avoid engaging in any other new pain-relieving activities or making changes to anything that you do currently, such as:

• Using any new medication or changing the frequency/dose of any regular medications that you already use for your mental health or chronic pain.

• trying a new therapy such as (but not limited to) physio, chiropractic, acupuncture, herbalism etc for your pain/wellbeing/stress.

• starting a new wellness or fitness regime or significantly changing what you already do as part of an existing routine.

 

Your health and wellbeing are the main priority, always, however, to ensure the validity of the research project we may need to remove your data in the event of a change – this is not a reason to avoid making necessary changes as advised by your medical practitioner!

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Are there risks to taking part?

The gentle nature of the treatment protocol being used, by a highly qualified and experienced therapist, means it’s very unlikely that you’ll experience any adverse effects, however, as with any form of hands-on treatment, there is a low risk of the following natural reactions to treatment:

• light bruising or muscle tenderness for 24-48hours after your massage.

• occasionally the body may react to treatment in such a way that pain ‘shifts’ to somewhere new or creates sensations elsewhere in the body.

• you may experience an emotional response or be reminded of previous trauma or events that contribute to your depression, anxiety, stress or pain.

 

These risks are usually not significant in intensity, or long lasting and I’ll fully support you throughout the whole process and any changes that you experience in response to your treatment. You’ll be treated with full professionality, consideration and respect for your individual needs at all times, exactly as I would with any non-research project client.

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Are there benefits to taking part?

Yes! More and more research has taken place recently that confirms the wide-reaching general benefits of massage including lowering blood pressure, improving immunity, increasing wellbeing and feel-good hormones, reducing stress hormones and so much more.

 

Also, every year, students of this BTEC qualification complete a range of studies into the effects of Jing Method™ massage on many different areas of health, wellbeing and pain – I haven’t read them all (there is literally a whole, very sizeable, wall of hard copy dissertations at Jing HQ!) but every single one that I’ve read has shown some positive change for the participants.

 

Personally, I’ve been using the Jing Method™ of clinical massage since 2017; over the years I’ve helped many clients improve their wellbeing and heal from a wide range of pain conditions. My clients love their massages with me and often continue having treatment long after they’ve healed the pain they first come in with, because they feel so much better for it.

 

I’m excited to be researching the benefits of massage on mental health; I’m confident that I can replicate some of the impressive decreases in depression, anxiety and stress that other Jing therapists have seen in similar studies. As there’s such a strong link between mental health and chronic pain, I’m also hopeful that we’ll improve your pain intensity or frequency as well.

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Will my data be safe?

All your information will be held securely and confidentially in line with UK GDPR legislation. Your data will be anonymised within the study and will be mathematically analysed together with all the other participants’ data. The findings from this analysis will be communicated to the project supervisor and possibly other practitioners.

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I want to take part, what do I do next?

• Contact me to confirm your interest in taking part

• I’ll then send you an initial participant data survey (to be completed and returned within 2 days) and we’ll arrange a convenient time for a video call (or in person meeting if preferred, either will last approximately 30minutes) to;

  • answer any questions that you have.

  • complete a full consultation to establish medical history.

• complete a consent form.