08/01/2024
As a Massage therapist I hear lots of things from my client's one thing that I hear quite a bit is in regards to a health condition the client might have. Things like oh it's nothing. You don't have to worry about it. Massage won't hurt me. You can't do any harm it's just a massage.
And to the best of my knowledge so far no one has been killed by a massage gone wrong. There have been documented cases of broken bones, dislocations of joints, compressed nerves, usually thoses injurys where from untrained or uninformed therapists. And preventable if there was communication about previous issues. for 99 percent of people in the world massage therapy is safe for just about everyone.... With some caveats though. For some people certain health conditions might mean we need to make adjustments to how we give a massage such as the pressure, techniques, how much we bend a joint.
Basic anatomy.
The cardiovascular includes the heart, arteries, veins and capillaries. The heart takes in Dance, go to your bed, I told you. someone who has high uncontrolled blood pressure massage could initially increase the blood pressure at least for a short time, especially deep tissue work. With the increase of blood circulation we also run the risk of dislodging blood clots if the client is more prone to them.
The muscular system.
One primary reason someone gets a massage is to release tight or sore muscles. people go for a massage for a varietie of reasons tight muscles from poor posture, excersise, over use, or some type of injury. muscles get tight for numerous reason and can develop trigger points and or "knots"
massage can help realease tight muscles by increasing the circulation of blood to them letting them get more oxygen and nutrients so they can function better. when a muscles gets tight and lacks good circulation it can get adhesions or get stuck together prevent proper movement. massage can of course soften those adhesions getting muscles to move better.
Trigger points are hyperirritable nodules in the muscle fibers that is constantly telling a part of the muscle to contract causing pain or tension. Massage can deactivate the trigger points.
Muscles sometimes suffer injuries and can get torn fibers and inflammation massage could help decrease the recovery time but deep tissue is not advised as it could aggravate the injury.
The nervous system.
Has way to many damn parts. It's basic level though is housed of the CNS the central nervous system and the PNS the peripheral nervous system. The CNS is the brain, spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system is all the nerves that branch out from the spine to the rest of the body. Those get further classified as the somatic division those nerves go to the skin and the voluntary muscles, and the autonomic division those go to the organs like the heart blood vessels and intestines.
The nervous system is responsible for sending every signal we need to stay alive and function. It also tells us about our surrounding environment informing us about things like smells, taste, pain, the over all position of our body.
For various reasons neuropathy can happen. Which is a lack of sensation in a part or multiple parts of the body.
Deep pressure or intense stretching would be not a good idea as the nervous system would not be able to give accurate feedback.
Massage effects just about every system in the body.
Below is a short list of conditions that need special consideration.
Osteopourosis. this affects the spine and hips most commonly but can affect the other bones. the bones lose bone density and become weak and brittle. too much pressure aggressive stretching or bad positioning could cause injury.
Cardiovascular Disease.
there are numerous conditions in this list. so to keep it short. if the heart or vascular system is compromised or working to hard. massage could especially deep tissue cause an increase in blood pressure, at least temporarily causing the heart to have to work harder for a short time. Deep tissue, treatments involving eccesive heat or cold are not advised.
spinal injury's.
these depend on what the injury is and the extent of the damage. but body position the amount of pressure used, should be considered to avoid causing further injury.
Surgarys.
this also depends on what the surgary was and how long ago it was. if it was for example a knee replacement, we need to know how recent it was, is the joint and tissue still in the recovery phase because it was last week. or was it years ago and you have limited range of motion with that knee when bending or flexing the knee. thoughts and considerations depend on each type of surgary.
Drugs or medications.
some drugs/medications affect how the body or brain perceives pain.
therefore if we use too much pressure you might not feel it and be able to tell your therapist hey that hurts. At which point we could unintentionally cause damage to your body. most drugs have side effects with a list a mile long. we might need to take those into consideration.
Cancer.
Cancer is a horrible disease and there are several types depending on the type and stage of cancer we might have to wait on giving a massage or adjust were we work or the techniques we us. The same goes for cancer treatment they have some really bad side effects that we need to consider. It might be best to consult with your doctor.
Infections or being sick.
If you are sick the body is trying to fight of an infection massage could make it worse by pushing it through your system making your body have to work harder. If you are just getting over being sick there is a very slight chance it is too soon and massage might make you feel crappy for a day or two. Also if you are sick you could get us sick and then we might get other client's sick.
If your sick dont get a massage wait till its over and you feel better.
As i said this was a short list of conditions there are so many more to consider. Let your massage therapist know about any health issues you might have. Our main goal is to help you feel better not make things worse. Thank you for taking the time to read this long winded and poor grammer post.
