Massage Therapy Can Reduce Cancer Patients’ Pain, Depression and Anxiety
Compiled by Melanie Bowen
Massage therapy can significantly improve a cancer patient’s quality of life. Many people suffering from cancer report that therapeutic massage reduces pain and anxiety while promoting feelings of well-being and relaxation, and research backs up their claims.
People have practiced massage for thousands of years, but in the West, massage therapy has become truly mainstream only in the past few decades. A 2007 National Institutes of Health study estimated that about 18 million adults in the United States—more than 8 percent of the population—had used therapeutic massage in the previous year.
Massage therapy is a term that encompasses a variety of techniques, and most practitioners employ a combination of techniques during a therapy session. One of the more common techniques is Swedish massage, in which the massage therapist rubs muscles and other soft tissue with sweeping circular motions, kneading of tight muscles, tapping and long strokes. Deep tissue massage, which is similar to Swedish massage, relaxes chronic muscle tension by concentrating on the deepest muscle layers, tendons and other deep tissues.
Shiatsu is a Japanese massage technique in which practitioners apply pressure with their hands to points similar to the points targeted by acupuncturists. In traditional Thai massage, practitioners rhythmically press and stretch the body into positions similar to yoga poses. In trigger point massage, the therapist identifies hypersensitive muscle knots or fascia knots and palpates those knots to provide muscle relaxation and pain relief. Most massage therapists use a combination of these and other techniques during a therapy session.
People use massage for a wide variety of conditions, and pain relief is one of the most common. Muscle pain is among the conditions most obviously treatable by massage therapy, but researchers have found therapeutic massage to be effective in controlling pain caused by chronic tension headaches and post-trauma headaches, as well relieving pain caused by conditions ranging from arthritis to diabetes to fibromyalgia. Accordingly, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has suggested that hospitals use massage therapy as part of their pain management programs.
Practitioners and patients alike endorse the use of therapeutic massage specifically for cancer symptom management. As of 1999, about half of National Cancer Institute cancer centers offered massage as a complementary therapy. Massage therapy seems to be effective for managing the symptoms of many if not most types of cancer, including breast cancer, mesothelioma and others. Studies indicate that in addition to alleviating pain, massage therapy can reduce cancer patients’ stress, lower their anxiety levels, and relieve depression.
Pain, anxiety and depression share some of the same neurochemical pathways, and are often intertwined in people with cancer and similarly painful diseases. Chronic pain can lead to depression, and depression heightens a person’s sensitivity to pain. Therapeutic massage helps to reduce pain, depression and anxiety, which can significantly improve a cancer patient’s quality of life.
Clinical studies support massage therapists’ and patients’ claims that therapeutic massage can alleviate symptoms of pain, depression, and anxiety. A 1993 study of hospitalized cancer patients concluded “massage therapy significantly reduced the subjects’ level of pain perception (average = 60%) and anxiety (average = 24%) while enhancing their feelings of relaxation by an average of 58%.”
Similarly, a 2002 study found that cancer patients’ “pain, sleep quality, symptom distress, and anxiety improved from baseline for the subjects who received therapeutic massage,” and concluded that the “findings support the potential for massage as a nursing therapeutic for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy.”
Massage therapy might be inappropriate for some patients with bone cancer, and patients who recently had radiation treatment might feel discomfort from any touch. For most cancer patients, though, massage therapy may offer significant benefits to their quality of life. Consult your doctor today and find a massage therapy that will be beneficial to you and your treatment and soak up all the benefits massage therapy has to offer!
Melanie Bowen Bio
I joined the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance in 2011 as an awareness advocate for natural health and cancer cure initiatives. You will often find me highlighting the great benefits of alternative nutritional, emotional, and physical treatments on those diagnosed with cancer or other serious illness. I also assist in social media outreach in my efforts to spread awareness.
I am from Upstate New York and any further questions I can be reached at my blog at:
http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/melanie/