Medicine Hands – Massage Therapy for People with Cancer
Gayle MacDonald
Chapter 3 Touch – Rx for Body, Mind, and Heart
“Mass
age changes people’s lives. The accounts of how it has affected those with cancer are dramatic, unexpected, and sometimes inspiring. Anxiety is curbed, pain dulled, and nausea made manageable. Patients describe feeling whole again, hope is restored, or connection to self is reestablished. For one woman it was like being “held in the hands of God.” Another patient, who received massage following chemotherapy, was able to plot through her treatments without having to be in bed the first few days following chemo. This was important, as she is the mother of a four-year-old.”
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A summary of the Potential Benefits of Bodyworks for Cancer Patients
- Moisturize the skin and prevents problem such as bedsores.
- Relieves muscle soreness due to prolonged bedrest.
- Increase circulation. Lymphatic flow is stimulated, which helps in the elimination of waste products;vascular flow is also stimulated, bringing fresh nutrients to the area.
- Increase range of motion.
- Increase relaxation
- Decrease odema and lympedema
- Sedates or stimulate nervous system, depending on the modality used.
- Encourage deeper respiration
- Improves bowel activity.
- Increase alertness and mental clarity.
- Improve sleep.
- Provides pain relief and reduces the need for pain medication.
- Decreases symptoms related to chemo and radiation, such as fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, and loss of appetite.
- Stimulates faster wound healing.
- Provides faster recovery from anesthesia.
- Shortens hospital stays.
- Increase elasticity to scarred area.
- Breaks up adhesions associated with scarring.
- Increases the effectiveness of other treatments, such as pain medication, physical therapy, or a medical procedure.
- Increase patient’s awareness of stress signals.
- Decreases anxiety and depression.
- Provides distraction
- Provides relief from isolation
- Offers meaningful social interaction.
- Provides a doorway to greater intimacy with family and friends.
- Provides relief of touch deprivation.
- Provides a forum for patients to express their feelings.
- Re-establishes a positive body image.
- GIves patients a sense of participation in the healing process.
- Re-builds hope.
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