It was the 50th anniversary of our Association of Massage Therapists. The two highlights were talks by Dr Sasha Stanton on the neuroscience of pain and Dr Sarah Fogarty on the benefits of massage used in clients with eating disorders.
Dr Sasha Stanton
'What is in between your ears is more important than the pain'.
How is it that two clients can have scans where there is bone on bone in the knees, or disc/facet joint pathology in their spine and one has no pain and the other loads of pain?
Her research suggests that expectancy,anxiety,stress and fear play a major role in the level of pain we feel.
We expect drugs to relieve pain. In one experiment recruits were told they were to be pricked but given no opiate - however they were given an opiate. Their perceived levels of pain went up! There was a negative expectancy.
In chronic osteoarthritis central sensitisation is not working properly. And the volume of pain perceived is much higher than it really is.
Doing 3X 1 hour physio sessions a week, knee pain was reduced in 85% of participants, whilst there was complete elimination of pain in 33% of people.
So what are the implications of these findings?
Dr Sarah Fogarty
Eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. These clients' self worth depends entirely on how they perceive their body image.
Massage can:
A fabulous quote' If only your eyes saw souls and not bodies, how very different our ideals of beauty would be'.
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This edition will look at three topics : calf and foot cramps with ideas on how to treat this common affliction Colds and flu and ways to strengthen the immune system And a couple of weeks of closure of the clinic from Sat 17 June to reopen ion Tuesday 4 July Also, as of 15 June I will no longer have a business land line - 9436 0306. Instead please use my mobile number to contact me and make appointments. 04247192436
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