Warm hands gently cradled the back of my neck. Strong fingers began to apply pressure to the base of my skull, focusing on muscles tight from hours of traveling and carrying heavy bags.

Pain and stress began to melt away. My throbbing headache faded as the therapist's hands moved slowly from one tense muscle to the next.

The pressure was intense and certainly harder than any deep tissue massage I'd ever experienced. Even as someone who enjoys firm pressure, the sensation hovered somewhere between pleasure and "good" pain.

Fifteen minutes later, I slowly opened my eyes. The headache was gone, and for once, my neck felt loose, not full of its usual jumble of knots.

Noise gradually returned, and I began to take notice of the crowds of people in the exhibit hall. No, I wasn't in a spa, but sampling Industrial Massage at the Institute for Health and Productivity Management national conference in Orlando, Fla.

Research suggests that chronic pain costs U.S. employers over $100 billion dollars each year in medical costs, lost productivity and worker's compensation.

For years, alternative medicine professionals have been advocating the health and wellness benefits that can come from massage. The Mayo Clinic suggests that massages can be used to "reduce stress and pain and promote healing in people with certain health conditions."

Industrial massage

Industrial Massage founder Dale Newman saw the need for a worksite massage program after years working with professional athletes.

"I saw that employers didn't treat their employees like million-dollar athletes. They looked at them as a commodity," he says. "I took the approach that an employee is a million-dollar asset to a company, [and] we need to treat them like it."

Newman designed a proprietary technique called "Industrial Massage," billed as a pain intervention program based on trigger-point therapy.

Specially trained massage therapists talk with clients in a worksite setting, asking where pain is occurring and what movements cause discomfort. They listen for specific verbal and physical cues. When possible, therapists perform the work of employees to get a better idea of how muscles are used and where pain may occur.

Therapists then begin a 15-minute intervention session, conducted seated or lying down, fully clothed.

"You apply a deep-tissue technique to the belly of a muscle, concentrating on one spot," Newman explains.

Afterwards, the most pain someone should feel is "as if you've had a good workout."

This type of therapy can be particularly effective in a manufacturing environment where workers need to heal and be on the go again quickly, Newman explains.

Since 2004, the company has performed over 36,000 interventions, at an average pain reduction of 60% per session.

Employers see success

Industrial Massage has attracted some familiar clients like Boeing and FedEx.

Boeing Corp. has included Industrial Massage as a component in its Industrial Athlete program for the past three years. The company has tens of thousands of employees working in manufacturing across Washington State.

"The majority of our injuries were repetitive use, soft-tissue related. Coupled with an aging workforce, we were seeing our injury rates go crazy. [We needed to do something] that would keep these people healthy ... keep them out of medical [claims] before they got hurt," says Corinne Towler, Industrial Athlete program manager.

Workers are permitted to schedule massage interventions on paid company time and return to work immediately following treatment, she says.

Towler had to explain to skeptical assembly-line workers what the massage would feel like. "I tell them it's deep-tissue massage in industrial strength," she laughs. She says Boeing even has some "super-users," or workers who return regularly for treatment.

Boeing estimates that workers have seen an average three-point drop on a 10-point pain scale.

The company has transformed return-to-work rates from virtually nothing to 90% return-to-job in only two years.

Industrial Massage is considered first-aid by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Newman explains.

Thus, if massage can get an employee back on the job, no reportable injuries are filed.

Don't forget to check out our online podcast with Industrial Massage founder Dale Newman, as part of the June issue at ebn.podhoster.com.