The results of this year's Massage Therapy Consumer Survey (commissioned by the American Massage Therapy Association) may help to desconstruct the stereotype that categoriezes it as nothing more than an indulgent form of relaxation.

WebMD nicely summarizes the survey's findings in an article highlighting the therapy's newfound status as a non-invasive pain reliever. Of the people who received a massage in the last year, 28 percent say that massage therapy offers “the greatest relief from pain.”

The survey also found that 22 percent of Americans had a massage in the past year; 90 percent of Americans think that massage is good for the health and massage use in people 65 and older has tripled from four percent in 1997 to 15 percent in 2005.