There are numerous advantageous effects of massage therapy on some common pathologies. However, the use of massage therapy shouldn’t be allowed in certain pathologies.
Classification of Pathologies
Massage therapists are known to relieve muscle tightening among asthmatics, which happens due to wheezing, coughing, and troubled breathing.
With close attention, therapists can help alleviate some inflammation among chronic bronchitis patients as well. Furthermore, pneumonia is caused by the inflammation of the lungs that deceptively shows signs of fever. Cold, on the other hand, is a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract.
The blood clot moves through the bloodstream in embolism or is fixed in the thrombus. And the hardening of the alveoli in the lungs is often confused with chronic asthma, which is caused by atherosclerosis.
If the client doesn’t have a history of cardiovascular or kidney disease, a message would be recommended for hypertension, which is caused due to high blood pressure in pulmonary arteries.
Endometriosis, which is related to abdominal pain, could also be treated with massage therapy.
The use of a massage therapist is contraindicated in peritonitis and prostatitis pathologies and should receive proper medical care.
Skin Pathologies
A professional massage therapist should avoid contagious skin diseases that are caused because of bacterial infections, like boils, fungal infections, and bone pathology such as a bunion, and third-degree burns.
Massage therapists should also be wary of acute skin infections, like herpes, hives, lice, warts, cysts, Lyme disease, moles, and psoriasis. However, it is important to remember that some pathologies actually permit massage therapy.
Neurological Pathologies
Massage therapy could also help individuals with meningitis, and Parkinson disease, which results from the inflammation of the membranes that connect our brain’s spinal cord or they can be caused by a degenerative neurological disorder.
More Common Pathologies
HIV/AIDS patients could enjoy the comfort and benefits of massage therapy so long as they’re in healthy shape.
And massage could be performed for patients with cystic fibrosis provided the symptoms haven’t reached severe levels. Additionally, it’s also beneficial for patients with multiple sclerosis who are in the subacute phase.
Also, people with bipolar depression could revitalize their life with regular massage therapy sessions.
Without being too intensive, a massage therapist could help cancer patients as well. People with cerebral palsy could also get the most out of massage therapy.
A massage therapist should not be used during the recovery period after heart failure and strokes.
And the same precautions should be taken for gout, edema, gallstones, scarification, pancreatitis, hernia, irritable, tuberculosis, hepatitis, diabetes, hemophilia, hypoglycemia, lupus, herniated disc, fractures, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, acute urinary phase, rental-failure, mononucleosis, and hematoma pathologies.
The use of massage therapy would be highly productive for certain athletic injuries, such as shin splints, muscle spasms, and plantar fasciitis.
Areas of Caution
A herniated disc can cause an intense amount of pressure and pain on the nerve endings of your legs. Therefore, a massage therapist should only conduct their session after a complete medical check-up.
The massage therapist should be aware of various types of sprains to evaluate whether or not the client fits the criteria for a healthy session. Massage therapists are known for their unique techniques to relieve pain, stiffness, and swelling that is caused by strains and sprains.
Inflammation is usually associated with infection, and massage therapists should be cautious in dealing with redness, heat, and swelling of the body to assess any damaged tissue.
The massage therapist can arrange special sessions for cancer patients to avoid areas where the location of the tumor is known.
Special Populations
Mothers could benefit a great deal from massage therapy during a normal pregnancy. And as a result, it will decrease pain in the body, such as back pain, leg pain, stress, and fatigue. That said, massage therapy isn’t the answer when a mother is suffering from high blood pressure, edema, nausea, and diarrhea.
To keep the fetus safe, massage therapy should be performed in the first or second trimester of pregnancy. Without verbal communication, an infant can’t express his or her sense of physical distress during massage therapy. So, it’s up to the massage therapist to analyze the body language to avoid any discomfort.
The massage therapist needs to be extra careful to the sensitive skin of elderly or disabled clients. They might need extra help in changing clothes or want additional privacy.
Pharmacology
Pharmacology refers to the study of effects of drugs on our body. Keeping that in mind, massage therapists should tread lightly with clients who are already receiving any drug prescribed therapy. The clients may want to decrease their drug-induced therapy to benefit more from physical therapy sessions.
Different Types & Uses of Drugs
Benzodiazepines and Buspirone HCl are the two most common anti-anxiety drugs. They reduce the activity level in the brain and decrease the uptake of dopamine and serotonin in the brain. Tricyclics, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are commonly used antidepressants.
The massage therapist needs to understand the pain threshold of each client as not to injure any muscle. Most common anti-inflammatory and analgesics include salicylates, acetaminophen, nonsteroidal or steroidal, and opioids.
Furthermore, the automatic nervous system disorder is tackled by the division of cholinergic, anticholinergic, adrenergic drugs for sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
And cardiovascular drugs range from beta blockers and calcium channel blockers to ACE inhibitors. These drugs could increase or decrease the flow of blood to reduce the stress on the heart.
It’s up to the massage therapist to determine the seriousness of a cancer patient’s physical state to formulate an effective therapy session. Cancer drugs fall into three types such as alkylating, antimetabolite, and antineoplastics drugs. Also, anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs manage the clot formation in the body that stop bleeding.
The massage therapist should take note of blood glucose levels during a session to avoid a hypoglycemic episode among diabetic patients. Insulin and oral glucose management drugs are used to reduce the production of sugar in the liver.
Healing herbs have existed for a long time before the advent of manufactured drugs. Thus, it’s only wise that massage therapists consider the cause-and-effect of herbal supplements on physical therapy.
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