Cancer patients and touch

[Guest guest]

Hi all, I just wanted to share something with you that some of the students in

my therapeutic massage class are working on this semester.

 

Part of our curriculum is clinical hands on hours. Most of us are conducting

an on-campus massage clinic. We have 2 small groups of students who are working

off-campus at the hospital (chair massages on nurses and hospital staff only),

and at the adjacent cancer treatment center (hand and foot massages on patients,

and chair massages for care givers and center staff).

 

As a part of the quantitative study of how well the massage work is going,

they are tracking the patient vital signs both before and after each massage.

The results are absolutely amazing so far! They worked with 11 patients this

week, and EVERYONE experienced positive results. From all the stress of the

treatments blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration levels are elevated in

cancer patients. After the massages most of the patients had returned to almost

normal ranges.

 

My fellow students got a chance to witness first hand exactly how powerful our

gift of touch is, and how much of a difference such a simple gesture can make in

someone's life - not just by making them aware that someone cares for them, but

also by improving their health. With this data to track, it also gives us a

small step toward making the profession of therapeutic massage that more

legitimate. You wouldn't believe how much more receptive of all of us students

the staff at both the hospital and the cancer center are. Makes me kind of

proud to be a part of it all.

 

Mary

 

 

 

Ring'em or ping'em. Make PC-to-phone calls as low as 1¢/min with

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[Guest guest]

---hi mary

how nice to hear another story regarding this valuable therpay

 

i always wondered about doing it on people with cancer -

thoughts of spreading the disease about crossed my mind

 

i have spreading this massage message for ages--and over here -uk

it is like you are talking a different language .

even giving people factual information on its merits, testimonies

seems to have little difference .

 

they are programmed i feel to a large extent by some victorian

precepts which seems to imprison them into a mindset of misaligned

values .

i think they call it brainwashing .

still i let them get on with it -problem is we have to suffer them

and their associaTED problems/ moaning until they do get it into

their heads

or maybe i have just sampled too many obtuse balchy critters .

this is the info we share

 

Massage, learning to rub people the right way

One of the first things we will look at and give the merits for is

massage, known and applied for thousands of years .In todays society

at least in the UK touch is almost alien through whatever reason be

it Victorian or upbringing .Yet touch can convey so much and the UK

in general has to learn this very important role. For in my

experience touch can be life changing ,yet I still meet nurses who

have never had a massage in their life. Clearly there is much to

change for these people are supposed to be at the very front to

treating the ill but as the previous chapter has explained modern

conventional treatment has almost obliterated one of the prime tools

for healing. Massage should be done to babies, children and adults

and much soothing would take place were this in place without need

for drugs, sedatives alcohol or other stimulants. if only this would

go into every would be mums repertoire of dealing with their

children. The results I am sure would be impressive.

 

Various combinations of oils for massage can be used however I have

only experience with using the oils of peanut /olive and almond and

I am sure there are many others which are of real benefit too. Also

very good results have been obtained using tincture of myrrh.

 

Research in massage therapy has been ongoing for more than 120

years.

Here are some reported benefits of massage:

 

Preliminary results suggested cancer patients had less pain and

anxiety after receiving therapeutic massage at the James Cancer

Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio.

 

Women who had experienced the recent death of a child were less

depressed after receiving therapeutic massage, according to

preliminary results of a study at the University of South Carolina.

Medical school students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry

of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School who were massaged before an

exam showed a significant decrease in anxiety and respiratory rates

as well as a significant increase in white blood cells and natural

killer cell activity, suggesting a benefit to the immune system

 

 

Studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found

massage beneficial in improving weight gain in HIV-exposed infants

and facilitating recovery in patients who underwent abdominal

surgery. At the University of Miami School of Medicine's Touch

Research Institute, researchers have found that massage is helpful

in decreasing blood pressure in people with hypertension,

alleviating pain in migraine sufferers and improving alertness and

performance in office workers.

 

An increasing number of research studies show massage reduces heart

rate, lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph

flow, relaxes muscles, improves range of motion, and increases

endorphins (enhancing medical treatment). Although therapeutic

massage does not increase muscle strength, it can stimulate weak,

inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for the lack of

exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury. It also

can hasten and lead to a more complete recovery from exercise or

injury.

 

Research has verified that:

Office workers massaged regularly were more alert, performed better

and were less stressed than those who weren't massaged.

Massage therapy decreased the effects of anxiety, tension,

depression, pain, and itching in burn patients.

Abdominal surgery patients recovered more quickly after massage.

Premature infants who were massaged gained more weight and fared

better than those who weren't.

Autistic children showed less erratic behaviour after massage

therapy.

 

According AMTA, massage helps both physically and mentally.

 

" Often times people are stressed in our culture. Stress-related

disorders make up between 80-and-90 percent of the ailments that

bring people to family-practice physicians. What they require is

someone to listen, someone to touch them, someone to care. That does

not exist in modern medicine.

One of the complaints heard frequently is that physicians don't

touch their patients any more. Touch just isn't there. Years ago

massage was a big part of nursing. There was so much care, so much

touch, so much goodness conveyed through massage. Now nurses for the

most part are as busy as physicians. They're writing charts, dealing

with insurance notes, they're doing procedures and often there is no

room for massage any more.

I believe massage therapy is absolutely key in the healing process

not only in the hospital environment but because it relieves stress,

it is obviously foundational in the healing process any time and

anywhere. "

 

Joan Borysenko - Massage Journal Interview, Fall 1999

Physical Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

Massage also provides another therapeutic component largely absent

in today's world: tactile stimulation, or, more simply, touch. In

1986, the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami

published groundbreaking research on the effects of massage on

premature babies. The preterm babies who received massage therapy

showed 47% greater weight gain and six-day shorter hospital stays

than the infants who were not receiving massage. But is this study

evidence of what loving touch can do spiritually, or rather what

massage can do on a physiological level? Regardless, babies are not

the only benefactors

 

Helps relieve stress and aids relaxation

Helps relieve muscle tension and stiffness. Alleviates discomfort

during pregnancy

 

Fosters faster healing of strained muscles and sprained ligaments;

reduces pain and swelling; reduces formation of excessive scar tissue

Reduces muscle spasms. Provides greater joint flexibility and range

of motion

 

Enhances athletic performance; Treats injuries caused during sport

or work

 

Promotes deeper and easier breathing Improves circulation of blood

and movement of lymph fluids

 

Reduces blood pressure Helps relieve tension-related headaches and

effects of eye-strain

 

Enhances the health and nourishment of skin Improves posture

 

Strengthens the immune system Treats musculoskeletal problems

 

Rehabilitation post operative Rehabilitation after injury

(Source: AMTA

 

Mental Benefits of Massage Therapy

Fosters peace of mind Promotes a relaxed state of mental alertness

Helps relieve mental stress. Improves ability to monitor stress

signals and respond appropriately.

Enhances capacity for calm thinking and creativity.

 

Emotional Benefits.

Satisfies needs for caring nurturing touch Fosters a feeling of well-

being

 

Reduces levels of anxiety. Creates body awareness. Increases

awareness of mind-body connection

 

i would like to use your message also

phil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

phill

 

 

In , Mary Mizio <mary_mizio

wrote:

>

> Hi all, I just wanted to share something with you that some of the

students in my therapeutic massage class are working on this

semester.

>

> Part of our curriculum is clinical hands on hours. Most of us

are conducting an on-campus massage clinic. We have 2 small groups

of students who are working off-campus at the hospital (chair

massages on nurses and hospital staff only), and at the adjacent

cancer treatment center (hand and foot massages on patients, and

chair massages for care givers and center staff).

>

> As a part of the quantitative study of how well the massage work

is going, they are tracking the patient vital signs both before and

after each massage. The results are absolutely amazing so far!

They worked with 11 patients this week, and EVERYONE experienced

positive results. From all the stress of the treatments blood

pressure, heart rate, and respiration levels are elevated in cancer

patients. After the massages most of the patients had returned to

almost normal ranges.

>

> My fellow students got a chance to witness first hand exactly

how powerful our gift of touch is, and how much of a difference such

a simple gesture can make in someone's life - not just by making

them aware that someone cares for them, but also by improving their

health. With this data to track, it also gives us a small step

toward making the profession of therapeutic massage that more

legitimate. You wouldn't believe how much more receptive of all of

us students the staff at both the hospital and the cancer center

are. Makes me kind of proud to be a part of it all.

>

> Mary

>

>

>

> Ring'em or ping'em. Make PC-to-phone calls as low as 1¢/min with

Messenger with Voice.

>

>