Tag Archive for: Massage Therapy Online

Massage Therapy

Risks of Massage Therapy

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By and large, massage therapy that is performed by a properly schooled and well experienced massage therapist who practices his or her art prudently and with due caution, is risk free to its recipient’s health and well being. For that reason along, if for no other, massage therapists must be selected very carefully as credentials and licenses are scrutinized meticulously, references are checked with diligence and questions are asked relentlessly.

Regardless of how it is phrased or worded, one question which must always be asked of a potential massage therapist is the following, “Which health conditions would you consider pre-clusive of massage therapy and why?” And the correct answer, whether stated in exactly those words or different ones, should be, “There are certain health conditions which must rule out massage therapy and those are …” And he or she must name the following:

massage therapy

Cancer. Massage therapy comes in different forms which affect the body differently. There are also many different types of cancers and patients may be at different stages and receiving different treatments. In some cases and certain types of massage therapy may lead to life threatening results while in other cases with another type of massage therapy the results may be extraordinarily beneficial. Because of such complexity, it is essential to consult with the medical provider who knows the particulars of the case in question before proceeding with a massage therapy of any kind.

The potential risks involved in performing massage therapy on cancer patients do not inevitably discard the entire concept of massage therapy but it does mean that extra caution must be practiced and, perhaps, moderate to extreme alteration of the treatment is in order. And the health risks are the following:

  • Fractures of bones. Certain forms of cancer and their treatments weaken bones to the extent that they can easily break under pressure.
  • Bleeding. Many cancer patients have the tendency to bleed easily. Deep tissue massage can cause dangerous internal bleeding.
  • Spreading of cancerous tumors. There is an ongoing debate about the effects of massage therapy on tumors. Some claim that applying vigorous pressure to the area where the tumor is present will cause it to metastasis (break down and to spread or to increase its rate of growth). Others, however, deny that claim as unsubstantiated and untrue. It is best to play it safe and not massage the tumor region or its surrounding soft tissues.
  • Lymphedema (the buildup of lymph in soft tissue which leads to swelling of the limbs). Certain types of massage therapy in patients who have had their lymph nodes removed due to cancer may lead to lymphedema.
  • Flu-like symptoms. Patients who are going through chemotherapy can often develop symptoms which look and feel like the flu after having been treated to certain types of massage therapy.
  • Pain. Cancer patients frequently suffer a great deal of pain and most massage therapy techniques can result in some temporary pain immediately after the treatment. That may translate to added pain when too much of it is already present and that can be quite literally unbearable.
  • Post-surgery. Shortly after surgery, the wound is still in the process of healing visually on the surface of the skin as well as internally. Applying pressure to the site may cause a series of risky health problems such as reopening the incision, trigger internal and/or external bleeding or blood clotting, and so on.
  • Skin conditions. Areas where the skin is infected, inflamed or covered with rashes or sores should not be massaged as it can lead to worsening of the condition.

Even when taking into account all the risks which have been mentioned above, massage therapy can still be very beneficial to most people in most situations. Rather than discounting it completely due to specific concerns, I would advise consulting a physician.

Massage Therapy

Massage Therapy

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Massage therapy is just one persuasion from a wide array of other very effective and closely related persuasions such as Acupressure, Body Work, Manipulative Therapy, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Structural Integration, Alternative Medical Systems, Mind-Body Intervention, Biologically Based Therapy, Energy Therapy, Shiatsu and Tui Na.

And all these as a group come under the wide umbrella of alternative medicine and body-based methods. Massage Therapy is a procedure in which various methods are utilized to manipulate soft tissues of the subject’s body such as the muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, connective tissues as well as the lymphatic vessels and organs of the gastrointestinal system.

massage

The primary goal of Massage Therapy is to affect physical, psychological and functional curative changes by performing manipulative functions which involve moving or stationery pressure, structured or unstructured force to strategic points, vibration, stroking, kneading, and so on.

On occasion, mechanical devices are used as tools of the trade, but for the most part, Massage Therapy is applied manually with the therapist’s hands, fingers, elbows, forearms and feet as the subject is fully clothed in a massage chair or partially to totally naked but covered with a towel on a massage table or on a mat on the floor.

Ancient scriptures have attested to the fact that massage therapy dates back into antiquity and it has been a fundamental practice in many different cultures such as the Roman, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Indian. Even Biblical writings from c. 493 BC speak of daily massage with olive oil and myrrh being applied to the wives of Xerxes (Esther, 2:9-12) as part of their daily beauty routine. Hippocrates of Cos, a Greek physician of the fourth century BC who is also considered the “father of medicine” and after whose teachings the famous Hippocratic Oath was named, wrote that “The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing.”

Advancing to more modern times, Massage Therapy gained its popularity in the United States when it was presented by two physicians from New York in the 1800s. Their techniques were an adaptation from the Per Henrik Ling Massage Therapy which was developed in Sweden. With the introduction of new and exciting innovations in medicine during the 1930s and 1940s, the popularity of Massage Therapy waned but was revived again by the athletic community in the 1960s and 1970’s. Massage Therapy was provided as a central medical service for the first time in the United States during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Etymologically speaking, the word “massage” in English comes from a long line of derivatives as follows: the French word “massage” which means “the friction of kneading,” which comes from the Arabic word “massa” which means “to touch, feel or handle,” which comes from the Latin word “massa” which means “mass or dough.” The Greek word for “massage” is “anatripsis” and the Latin word is “firctio.” However, the oldest known origin of the English word “massage” comes from the Biblical Hebrew word “me-sakj” which means “to anoint with oil.”

What we refer to as Massage Therapy today has in the past been merely referred to as Massage. However, the “therapy” portion of the Massage Therapy came into being only when the illegal prostitution and sexual services in the United States began advertising themselves and their wares as “massage.” Wanting to distinguish itself, the legitimate massage became Massage Therapy while the illicit continued to be called massage.