Pain management Pain is often what triggers people to seek out massage therapy in the first place. Think about how often you experience pain, and what you do about it when it happens. Do you ignore it? Do you run to your doctor for painkillers? Most of us probably fall somewhere in the middle of those two reactions to pain, and most of us probably take action only after the pain has become a consistent annoyance. By the time our clients get to us for relief, they have likely been experiencing pain for a while. According to the National Institutes of Health, a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, “Pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined” (NIH, 2018). The good news is that current research is starting to examine and support the theory that massage therapy is a safe and effective tool for pain management with broad applications. A study published in 2016 in the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s journal Pain Medicine opened the door for more research into this theory. Though the researchers determined that a more specific definition of massage therapy (included modalities) and more comparative studies are needed, they generally concluded, “There is evidence to suggest that massage therapy may be beneficial for improving various patient-reported functional outcomes for populations experiencing pain” (Crawford et al., 2016). In other words, massage therapy works to treat pain, which we already knew. We just need the scientific evidence to back it up to stake our claim in the medical community. The reduction in pain that clients experience during and after a massage is caused by a few factors, which we will examine from the outside in. First is the effect of manual manipulation on soft tissue. On the muscular level, Rest, digest, and recover As discussed in Section 1 of this course, sleep is often the first body function to be affected by both acute and chronic stress. Over time, a constant level of stress can cause a sleep deficit from either not getting enough sleep or not getting any sleep at all. Even those who get some sleep may hover in the lighter stages of sleep during the night and may not be reaching the deeper stages of sleep that offer the most restorative benefits. An article on the website for an organization called Tuck described the stages of sleep and sleep cycles, stating, “During deep sleep, human growth hormone is released and restores your body and muscles from the stresses of the day. Your immune system restores itself. Much less is known about deep sleep than REM sleep. It may be during this stage that the brain also refreshes itself for new learning the following day” (Tuck, 2018). As we have seen previously in this course, massage therapy increases the available amounts of serotonin in the body, which is what makes it such a pleasant experience, but serotonin is also critical for inducing sleep. Serotonin is essential for the production of melatonin in the body. Melatonin is a hormone that regulates the sleep/wake cycles in the body, and a lack of it can cause an inability to sleep. Massage can help, especially in the long run, by consistently increasing serotonin levels and melatonin production, thereby potentially reducing the need for dietary melatonin supplementation or pharmaceutical sleep aids. Some would even say that massage should be considered as an alternative to, or replacement for, sleep medications. Massage is a smart, healthy, and drug-free option that has helped many people overcome insomnia. Because melatonin influences the sleep stage of an individual’s
massage therapy loosens tight, restricted muscles and connective tissue to reduce hypertonicity, and relieves nerve compression that can be caused by muscle tension. Relieving muscle tension can also improve joint function and range of motion because the joint will be able to move with less muscular restriction. On the circulatory level, massage therapy increases blood flow to ischemic tissue and increases lymphatic flow allowing the tissues to dispose of metabolic waste more efficiently. On the neurological level, massage therapy triggers the relaxation response noted above, during which the brain sends messages via the central and peripheral nervous systems to the body to tell it to relax by reducing the number of signals sent to induce muscle contraction. On the chemical level, massage therapy increases the available levels of dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins while simultaneously reducing cortisol levels. All of these combined will reduce a client’s experience of pain both immediately following a session and for the long term with consistent care. Although it is widely recognized that chronic stress can cause pain, it is also important to note that the reverse can be true. Chronic pain can cause stress, as we see in the case of clients suffering with long-term generalized pain conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic myofascial pain. Clients who have been dealing with chronic pain for a long time may not be able to recognize any separation between pain and stress anymore; it no longer matters which is the chicken, so to speak, and which is the egg because the two things are deeply intertwined. Even though our treatment approach to both might be the same, it is useful in building good client relationships to understand their experiences of pain so we can better meet their expectations. circadian rhythm, a natural way of boosting serotonin is a positive sleep-inducing option. … A growing number of health care professionals recognize the benefits of taking a multidisciplinary approach to patients in order to better identify the source of illness rather than simply treating the symptoms. At the same time, sleeping pills and painkillers should take a back seat to complementary and alternative forms of medicine, including massage therapy, for treating the whole person and improving outcomes . (Kibler, 2014) Massage therapy should, ideally, be higher on the list of physician recommended treatments for insomnia In addition to its ability to improve the duration and quality of sleep, massage therapy can improve the function of the digestive system. The first issue to address is what stress can do to our eating habits and the consequences of consistently making poor choices. We are all guilty of the occasional “stress eating,” which typically involves indulging in processed foods that are high in fat and sugar, when we are feeling particularly stressed. Eating food that we know is bad for us feels good when we are under stress. We know that diet plays a vital role in overall health, and even though it may not be as satisfying to make healthier choices in the moment, the payoff of a much healthier digestive system, healthier heart, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and better maintained blood sugar levels is worth it. How can we help our clients make better choices because nutrition counseling is probably outside of our scope of practice for most of us? Simply by doing what we do. Regular massage can help curb those cravings by influencing the nervous system and the body’s chemistry to
Page 19
Book Code: MNJ0524
EliteLearning.com/Massage-Therapy
Powered by FlippingBook