BACKGROUND: Soft tissue massage and exercise are commonly used to treat episodes of shoulder pain. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of soft tissue massage and exercise compared to exercise alone on pain, disability, and range of motion in patients with non-specific shoulder pain. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Public hospital physiotherapy clinics, Sydney, Australia. PATIENTS: Eighty participants aged 62.6 +/- 1.4 yrs (mean +/- SE) referred to physical therapy for non-specific shoulder pain. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomly assigned to either a group that received soft tissue massage around the shoulder and exercises (n = 40) or an exercise only group (n = 40) over four weeks. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was improvement in pain measured on a 100 mm visual analogue scale one week after cessation of treatment. Secondary outcomes were disability, active flexion, abduction and hand-behind-back range of motion. Measures were taken at baseline, one week after cessation of treatment and 12 weeks after cessation of treatment. RESULTS: The between groups difference in pain scores from the initial measures to 12 weeks after cessation of treatment demonstrated a small significant difference in favor of the exercise only group (mean difference 14.7 mm, p = 0.042). There were no significant differences between groups for any other variable. LIMITATIONS: It was not possible to blind therapists or participants to group allocation. Diagnostic tests were not used on participants to determine specific shoulder pathology. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of soft tissue massage to an exercise program for the shoulder confers no additional benefit in pain, disability or range of motion or disability in patients with non-specific shoulder pain.

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