“It just
takes my breath away,” he said. “It really gets my attention.”
This
gentleman has played football, fought in the war, and built suburbs. If the
pain is bad enough to rob his breath, I am on alert.
A few trips
to the doctor and he was diagnosed with foramen stenosis, a term that means
osteoarthritis – calcifications and inflammation - were taking up residence in
the area where spinal nerves exit L4-L5. The osteoarthritis pushed against the
nerve bundle as he tried to move. Hence the ZAP!
I inquired
about the plan.
“Well, I
went to p.t. and at first the stretches seemed to help, but then they made
things worse. It’s not bad enough to operate on yet. I am just trying to move
my back as little as possible.”
Good heavens. I had to speak.
“Have you considered doing some massage?”
“What good would massage do?”
Oh yes, sometimes this question comes up. I happily urge all massage therapists to answer it when it does.
Too often
people think inflammation and calcifications of osteoarthritis are set in
stone. They move less and less, giving the condition a wide-open opportunity to
get much, much, worse.
Well,
massage therapy alleviates back pain, inflammation and swelling. It is why we
train to do what we do. I mentioned a recent study that found general,
non-specific massage helped reduce stenosis pain.
He asked if
massage could fix the problem.
The study
didn’t go long enough to figure that out, I explained. The big result is that
people felt better and thus did more and felt healthier.
Do massage
therapists think gentle rubbing can reduce osteoarthritis? Or “just“relieve it?
I think we know the answer, don’t we?
3 comments:
massage can definitely "fix" many problems in the short run, and some in the long run as well. that said, the type of massage varies depending on the issue one is trying to fix
I have residual pain from a car accident a while back. I think I need to employ a massage therapist in Lethbridge.
I beg to differ - massage can't "FIX" anything. What it CAN do is "create a window of opportunity for the body to "fix" itself". In other words, if the person expects massage to be the only answer and doesn't change anything else (ie posture, stress management strategies, or overuse patterns), it will only be short-term relief that will diminish in effectiveness over time. If instead the person takes the relief the session likely provides as a window of opportunity to more easily address whatever started/exacerbated the pain in the first place - long-term relief is much more likely to occur. And this is true even if the trouble being addressed is something like stenosis or arthritis. Sometimes they need further guidance with the necessary changes, sometimes they do not. Regardless though, I think it is an extremely important distinction that must be conveyed to massage therapists and clients alike. And I will admit it is my personal soapbox.
Post a Comment