Massage & Bodywork Magazine Recognized for Excellence
“Razor’s Edge,” from the May/June 2016 issue of Massage & Bodywork, won the award for Best Feature Article (Circulation over 50,000)/Trade at the Western Publishing Association’s 2017 MAGGIE Awards. Written by Associate Editor Brandon Twyford, the article explores the role of sports massage in elite athletes’ training. Read it online here: www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/665755-may-june-2016/54?m4=.
Massage & Bodywork has also been selected as a finalist for two 2017 EXCEL Awards from Association Media & Publishing in the following categories:
• General Excellence.
• Single Topic Issue: Massage & Bodywork, September/October 2016 (Fascia).
The EXCEL Awards are the largest and most prestigious award program that exclusively recognizes excellence and leadership in associations in the media, publishing, marketing, and communication sectors.

Massage Helps Treat Low-Back Pain
A March study published in Pain Medicine reaffirms that massage can provide lasting relief for chronic low-back pain.
Subjects in the study received 10 massage sessions with licensed massage therapists. Therapists were free to design massage protocols that were individual to each subject, rather than using the same technique. Results were measured using questionnaires.
More than 50 percent of the subjects reported clinically meaningful improvement in their back pain, and several subjects improved so much that their scores on a standard screening test dropped below the threshold for disability.
Three months following the study, with no further massage sessions, 75 percent of the people who reported initial improvement said they still felt better.
Lead study author Niki Munk, PhD, LMT, assistant professor of health sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, says the study included a diverse group of patients and reflected real-life health-care situations.
The researchers conclude: “Results provide a meaningful signal of massage effect for primary care patients with chronic low-back pain and call for further research in practice settings using pragmatic designs with control groups.” Read the abstract at www.bit.ly/2oxp0Pu.

Remembering John Matthew Upledger
John Matthew Upledger, age 56, CEO of Upledger Institute International, the Barral Institute, and the International Alliance of Healthcare Educators, passed away at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on May 21, 2017.
Upledger, son of Dr. John E. Upledger, was an entrepreneur and successful businessman. He started his lifelong career in the company mail room, was recognized for his natural leadership skills early on, and then quickly promoted through the ranks. While still very young, he was promoted to the position of CEO of the Upledger Institute’s worldwide comprehensive continuing education and manual therapy training programs, product lines, foundation, and clinic.
To continue his legacy and honor Upledger’s life work, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to the Dr. John E. Upledger Foundation for the establishment of a John Matthew Upledger Scholarship. For more information, visit www.upledger.org.