Cancer and Massage
Massage therapists are slowly becoming fixtures in places like hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices. Why? Because MTs are extremely helpful in assisting patients along the difficult road of recovery – and the main reason I am certified in oncology (cancer) massage.
Here are a few FAQs to help you get started:
Is Massage Therapy Safe for People Living with Cancer?
Yes, when practiced by a skilled therapist with training in massage and cancer.
Massage should be modified to work around side effects or complications of radiation, chemotherapy, surgery and medications. Blood counts should be considered in massage design, as well. Even after years of survivorship, there are a few simple but critical adjustments in massage therapy; for example, if lymph nodes were removed or treated with radiation, or if bone metastases are present.
I am aware of these and other adaptations for cancer treatment and will combine a thorough intake process with sound clinical judgement and clear communication about what to expect in the session. I will adapt the massage to your needs and requests, fashioning a hands-on session that relaxes, energizes and reduces pain and discomfort.
Can Massage Spread Cancer?
To put it simply, no, it cannot. An old myth warned that massage could, by raising general circulation, promote metastasis since tumor cells travel through blood and lymph channels. We now recognize that movement and exercise raise circulation much more than a brief massage can, and that routine increases in circulation occur many times daily in response to metabolic demands of our tissues. In fact, physical activity usually is encouraged in people with cancer; there is no reason to discourage massage or some form of skilled touch. Massage is practiced widely at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and growing numbers of hospitals around the country. Metastasis is not a concern; instead, patients and researchers report countless benefits.
How Can Massage Benefit People Living with Cancer?
Massage has many benefits for people living with cancer. We know some of these from clinical observations, some from controlled research and some from what clients tell us directly. Below are a few examples:
Massage Reduces Anxiety
Clients in cancer treatment state that massage eases anxiety before and during uncomfortable procedures and interventions. Research literature reports that massage helps anxiety in patients with cancer and in other populations. In repeated studies of various populations, massage helps reduce depression as well.
Massage Eases Pain
Recipients of massage therapy express less cancer-related pain, treatment-related pain and pain related to muscle tension. They claim that massage helps “take the edge off” of acute pain and in some cases relieve it entirely.
Massage Helps Control Nausea
Massage may be a viable, low-cost approach to minimizing this difficult side-effect of medication and treatment.
Massage Improves Sleep and Eases Fatigue
Many clients find that massage improves their energy level and helps them sleep better, and clients in cancer treatment are no exception. But sleep can be especially hard to come by during cancer treatment, and cancer fatigue is common and poorly understood, making it a difficult symptom to treat. People in treatment, often with a high degree of symptom distress, are especially in need of good sleep, and massage may help facilitate this.
To learn more about oncology massage and how I can help you or anyone you know with cancer, please contact me at mgandelman@comcast.net.
mpgandelman@gmail.com
~(203) 499-9076
~(203) 499-9076
