The effects of massage on delayed onset muscle soreness (Hilbert et al, 2003)

Massage administered after DOMS inducing exercise did not alter Neutrophil levels or Hamstring function. Massage however, did lower the intensity of soreness. The mechanism for the difference in soreness intensity remains to be elucidated.

Effects of Therapeutic Massage on gait and pain after Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (Jun et al, 2014)

The study showed that massage on Gastrocnemius after DOMS affects pain reduction. These mean that massage on Gastrocnemius is valuable as an intervention to relieve pain induced by DOMS.

According to this study, massage on gastrocnemius after DOMS may decrease pain caused by fatigue and inflammation and pain reduction may lead to change of gait. Therefore, massage on the gastrocnemius after DOMS can be used as effective therapeutic mediation facilitating recovery of pain and gait.

Effects of Massage on delayed onset muscle soreness, swelling and recovery of muscle function (Zainuddin et al, 2005)

The massage resulted in a 20% to 40% decrease in the severity of soreness compared with no treatment in the same individuals.

Massage was effective in reducing the magnitude of DOMS , swelling and Plasma CK activity.

Our findings suggest that massage, used appropriately, is beneficial in reducing DOMS and swelling associated with high-intensity eccentric exercise, but recreational athletes and sports professionals who use massage should be cognizant of the fact that no positive effects of massage on the recovery of muscle function can be expected.

Massage reduces pain perception and hyperalgesia in experimental muscle pain: A randomized, controlled trial (Frey Law et al, 2008)

Deep tissue massage was able to reduce mechanical hyperalgesia (increase thresholds) and decrease stretch pain relative to the no-treatment control group. Superficial touch alone was able to reverse DOMS mechanical hyperalgesia equally as well as that observed with deep massage. Further, when combining the superficial touch and deep massage groups, stretch pain reduction remained significantly better than no treatment. These results would suggest that deep-tissue massage is better than superficial touch in reducing muscle pain but that superficial touch may contribute to some benefit.

Deep tissue massage partially reverses stretch pain and that both deep-tissue and superficial touch treatments partially reversed mechanical hyperalgesia..