The Importance of Massage for Cancer Patients
by Gayle MacDonald, M.S., L.M.T.
Massage changes people’s lives. The accounts of how it has affected those with cancer can be dramatic, unexpected and sometimes inspiring. Anxiety is curbed, pain dulled and nausea made manageable. Patients describe feeling whole again, that hope has been restored or that their connection to their inner self is reestablished.
Skilled touch can be given at every stage of the cancer experience — during hospitalization, the pre- or post-operative period, in the outpatient clinic, during chemotherapy and radiation, recovery at home, remission or cure, and in the end stages of life.
Not only are physical needs addressed, but emotional, social and spiritual ones as well. Massage given with care has the capacity to open hearts, create wholeness and change lives. Conventional oncology treatments may cure the disease, but massage helps people connect with healing.
Careful, Conscious Massage
The development and spread of cancer is a complex process involving genetic and epigenetic changes that cause a myriad of biochemical alterations. There is no evidence to suggest that touch or gentle, caring massage causes metastasis, but there is proof that it greatly benefits many cancer patients, both physically and emotionally. Scientific research and anecdotal evidence have shown low-impact massage improves some of the side effects of cancer or the treatment regimens, such as nausea, fatigue, insomnia, and pain. Patients report an increased sense of well-being with a reduction in anxiety and the sense of isolation, as well as increased relaxation and decreased muscle tension.
Care, caution and a soft touch are the watchwords when massaging people with cancer — not fear. There are cautions to be observed when working with those in or recovering from cancer treatments. Massage therapists must be alert to the many side effects of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, such as low blood counts, the risk for lymphedema and body image changes.
Research confirms the healing effects of touch therapy. A study by J.S. Kutner and her colleagues, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, compared the use of “simple touch” and Swedish Massage on 380 people with advanced cancer who rated their pain as moderate or more. The patients received up to six sessions of simple touch from someone with no bodywork experience or massage therapy from a licensed massage therapist with at least six months of experience with cancer patients. Both the simple touch and massage therapy decreased pain, however, massage worked better than simple touch.
Patients who have received massage express feelings of peace, dignity and momentary relief from the heavy thoughts of their situation. For one woman it was like being “held in the hands of God.” Another patient who received massage following chemotherapy was able to soldier through her treatments without having to be in bed the first few days following chemo. This was important, as she is the mother of a four-year-old.
Massage and Pain
Pain is one of the most feared elements of the cancer experience and something that affects patients’ comfort and quality of life. Providing pain relief is essential in and of itself, but it can also strengthen a person’s will to live, thereby improving their chance of survival. Severe pain not only affects the will to live or response to treatment, it may hinder the healing process or prolong hospitalization.
People with chronic pain may be unable to fully participate in life, sleep poorly and find relationships affected. At best, the management of pain is a complex and inexact science. Despite advances in medications, cancer pain or discomfort related to treatment cannot always be completely managed through medication.
Cancer pain is sometimes inadequately treated for a variety of reasons. People may fail to report their pain, believing it is best to be strong and tough it out. Inadequate treatment can be due to limitations of the drugs, but can also be a consequence of misconceptions by physicians who under prescribe medication for fear of patients developing drug tolerance or addiction. Patients too, fearing addiction, take less than the prescribed dosage. This fear, however, is unwarranted, as research indicates that cancer patients rarely develop a psychological dependence on narcotics.
There is anecdotal evidence to support the idea that combining massage with standard pain medications may be affective in addressing some types of hard-to-treat pain scenarios. Some people believe that massage may also allow those wishing to use less pain medication. It is not yet known if this is a realistic expectation. Although massage certainly can’t replace analgesics, the evidence is somewhat strong that it is an effective complement to pain medication.
We need slow, simple measures as an antidote to the fast and complex. Touch therapies are one way. No one should be without this basic necessity of life — touch. It is as important as food, water, and shelter.
About the Author
Gayle MacDonald, M.S., L.M.T., is the author of Medicine Hands: Massage Therapy for People with Cancer. Since 1994, she has given massage to cancer patients and supervised massage therapists on the oncology units of Oregon Health and Science University. Visit medicinehands.com.
Excerpted with permission by Findhorn Press at findhornpress.com.
