Massage and Breast Cancer ...
learning to work with patients who need you!
Massage and Breast Cancer is not something that is often discussed in the diagnosis and recovery process, but more and more massage therapy professionals are studying this therapy for those who deal with the stressful situations that cancer patients must face.
Men are diagnosed with breast cancer too, however, the majority of people who are diagnosed are women. For those, who often care for others before themselves, the diagnosis can be devastating.
Massage therapy can be an important part of the road back to a healthy life for some women. Relaxing massage can empower, and provide much needed strength to continue on through the healing journey.
This article discusses guidelines and benefits regarding massage and cancer patients.
Learning this Therapy
Eeris Kallili is a Certified Massage therapist and an instructor for classes that teach about massage for those with breast cancer. As a breast cancer survivor, Eeris is passionate about helping women who are experiencing in of the many stages of breast cancer.
This is one of the videos of her classes:
Guidelines for massage and breast cancer patients or patients with other serious illness:
- Listen -When you have a new client with breast cancer, allow her to talk about her fears, listen and refrain from sharing your own beliefs and do not be judgmental about the subject.
- Educate -Do not take the counselor role - just offer your knowledge and any helpful resources.
- Caring Touch -Be attentive and make the client feel safe.
For all clients, but most especially for breast cancer patients, remember that they come to you for specialized massage techniques, but also because they like who you are, and they trust you!
Be there to talk if they need to talk, listen if they need to be heard, and be silent if that is what they need from you, but be careful and follow their lead.
A gentle, confident touch is more important than anything. Knowing the person is confident in the therapy they are providing, especially when the client is ill, is comforting and will allow true relaxation.
Some of the other benefits with massage are:
- Rejuvenation
- Calming the nerves
- Relieves mental and emotional stress
- Eases physical pain
- Produces increase in flexibility
- Speeds healing from surgery and treatment
- Decreases scar tissue
- Increases circulation
This book, Medicine Hands: Massage Therapy for People with Cancer, will teach you about how to massage those with cancer. Written by Gayle MacDonald, this highly rated book discusses the myths of massage for breast cancer patients, as well as how massage can ease the discomfort of chemo, radiation, and surgeries. It discusses the protocol for massage and breast cancer in a hospital, home care, hospice, as well as massage for caregivers.
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