Blog article

A member of our massage association did some research on the benefits of remedial massage on breast cancer patients at The Chris O'Brien Lighthouse Centre in Sydney. She used massage where the pain medication was not working adequately or they were feeling depressed. The research  was an evaluation of massage on self reported symptom burden and wellbeing .Of 288 patients each had to rate 17 symptoms on a scale. From this they chose 2 of their chief concerns. Their chief concerns were sleep issues, fatigue, memory and wellbeing. Results of  wellbeing showed that aches and pains were of most concern. Shoulder issues were the worst due to being hunched over because of the pain, which can result in a decreased range of motion(ROM), but also due to cording( lymph vessels became thick and scarred from chemotherapy and radiation) thus reducing movement in the shoulder. Gentle massage on the shoulder to increase ROM, or on these cords with stretching helped them out. Massage was shown to be statistically significant in improving patients wellbeing and two of their concerns. 

For radiation treatment do not have massage for 5 weeks after 5 weeks of radiation. This is due to infection control. Massage statistically improved wellbeing and also the 2 key areas of pain and lack of sleep.

Patients had a massage just before the first treatment and then a second massage  just before the next treatment. PatIents had 4 or more massages once every 3 weeks. 

It just shows you that 30 years ago when I started practising massage, treating patients with breast cancer was not on. Now it is much more accepted as an adjunct to the medical treatment to help the patient's side effects, particularly their pain levels. And some some doctors are pro and others are anti massage. 

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