Managing Musculoskeletal Pain Through Targeted Therapeutic Massage During Pregnancy: A Case Report

Background: Musculoskeletal shifts during pregnancy can cause structural stress, leading to pain symptoms. There is evidence that manual therapies such as massage therapy, physical therapy, and chiropractic may be of benefit. Neurosomatic therapy is a treatment that combines structural analysis with a variety of massage techniques to help restore proper postural alignment and alleviate the root cause of musculoskeletal pain. Objective: To examine the effects of neurosomatic therapy on pain reduction in a pregnant patient during her third trimester. Methods: A 36-year-old female in her third trimester of pregnancy received 10 massage therapy treatments performed by a student at the Center for Neurosomatic Studies. The sessions were conducted twice per week over a 5-week period, and began with an initial interview to gather information about the client's symptoms. Each session also incorporated the use of a posturology chart to assess structural asymmetries, followed by targeted massage therapy techniques. Outcome measures used to track progress included posturology charts, the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPDS), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), as well as ongoing verbal feedback from the client. Results: While the MPQ and QBPDS questionnaires showed no significant improvement, verbal feedback indicated a decrease in or elimination of pain symptoms in some areas and an overall reduction in pain compared to the patient's first pregnancy. Conclusion: These findings suggest that there may be a need for the development of pregnancy-specific pain outcome measures that incorporate normative data that reflects the typical progression of symptoms. Without establishing such baselines, it is challenging to evaluate treatment-related changes in pain and functioning during pregnancy. Neurosomatic therapy may be a helpful intervention for decreasing pain throughout pregnancy; however, research with multiple participants is needed to provide stronger evidence supporting the benefits of this approach.