The benefits of massage therapy for mesothelioma patients range from pain relief and increased mobility to relief from stress and anxiety. Talk to your medical team before trying massage therapy. It may not be suitable for every cancer patient.
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What Is Massage Therapy?
Massage therapy is different from just a casual massage. It’s considered a part of medicine, often under complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Massage therapists are trained and licensed therapists, many of whom work with chiropractors or physicians to provide additional treatment to patients.
While some people may get massages simply because it feels nice, others use massage therapy to treat real conditions and symptoms.
Massage therapy involves rubbing and manipulating muscles, skin, tendons, and ligaments to produce specific results. These may include reducing the pain caused by a sports injury or reducing stress to lower blood pressure.
There are also specialties in massage therapy, such as medical, sports, or spinal health massage. Regardless of the specialization, all massage therapists tailor their treatment to each individual patient’s needs and health goals.
What Are the Benefits of Massage Therapy?
The benefits of massage therapy are varied and numerous. Studies have proven that massage can provide significant health benefits to a variety of patients:
- Improve mood and reduce anxiety and stress
- Reduce pain (including headaches and back pain)
- Improve digestion and digestive disorders
- Improve healing and help injuries heal faster
Evidence from some studies shows that this last benefit may be because massage stimulates the immune system and helps it work better and more efficiently.
Oncology Massage Therapists
The general health benefits of massage have been proven in studies, but these benefits can also extend to specific health conditions, including cancer. Oncology massage therapists specialize in treating cancer patients, including those with mesothelioma.
Oncology massage therapists are practitioners of oncology massage. They are educated on cancer, what it does to the body, how treatments work, and the side effects of treatment.
They work with patients to develop individualized treatment plans that help them feel better and meet specific targets, such as reducing pain and improving mobility.
There are some risks and limitations to practicing massage therapy with cancer patients. A patient with mesothelioma may be more fragile or at risk for pain than a healthy patient or may have tender spots from treatment or tumors that need to be treated gently or avoided.
It is important that oncology massage therapists work with a patient’s medical team and learn all about the specific needs and limitations of the therapy.
The Benefits of Oncology Massage for Mesothelioma Patients
The general health benefits of massage therapy are well documented, but there are also specific reasons that mesothelioma patients might try to reap the benefits of massage.
Underlying all of these benefits is the fact that together, they give cancer patients a better quality of life:
Massage Reduces Stress and Anxiety
There is no question that patients living with a diagnosis of mesothelioma are suffering physically as well as emotionally. To have terminal cancer, to be sick, and to suffer symptoms and side effects of treatment is emotionally draining.
Studies have found that massage therapy reduces negative emotions, especially stress and anxiety. Mesothelioma patients can benefit from regular massage for this reason, but also before frightening procedures.
Massage Therapy Mitigates Treatment Side Effects
The effects of cancer are physical as well as emotional, but treatments also cause the symptoms. Chemotherapy, in particular, causes fatigue and nausea.
Massage therapy has been shown to increase energy and reduce fatigue. It may also help patients regain mobility more quickly after having a surgical procedure.
Drain Fluid Buildup
Many cancer patients deal with excess fluid resulting from tumors and inflammation. Fluid buildup can be uncomfortable or even painful. Manual lymphatic drainage is a massage therapy technique that can effectively reduce excess fluid.
Massage Improves Recovery
Massage therapy cannot directly treat cancer, but studies have shown that it affects immune system action. Mesothelioma patients face slow recovery times after receiving chemotherapy, radiation, or surgical procedures.
Massage therapy can help the body heal faster and speed up recovery time. Massage even helps patients recover more quickly from being under general anesthesia.
Massage Provides a Better Quality of Life
Living with mesothelioma means living in discomfort, in pain, in some cases with limited mobility, and in most cases with added stress and anxiety.
When massage therapy can reduce some of these side effects of having cancer, it gives patients a better quality of life. It allows a patient to do more, thanks to reduced fatigue and less pain; it helps patients sleep better because of stress reduction.
Massage can also help people cope better with the struggles of having cancer because it boosts mood and reduces anxiety.
What Are the Risks of Massage Therapy for Cancer Patients?
While there are clear benefits to using oncology massage for patients with cancer, there are also some limitations.
Patients with cancer are at a greater risk of experiencing adverse events from massage. These could include:
- Bruising
- Internal hemorrhaging
- Bleeding through wounds
- Infections
- Increased pain
- Bone fractures
One risk you do not need to worry about is a myth that sometimes circulates about massage therapy. No evidence supports the idea that massage increases the risk of metastasis.
Choosing an Oncology Massage Therapist
In addition to the benefits of massage therapy for a mesothelioma patient, there are limitations and a few risks.
Massage may cause more pain if not done correctly. It could cause bleeding, bruising, and infections. Massage may worsen wounds or, in extreme cases, cause bone fractures.
Minimize the risks by selecting a trained, licensed massage therapist experienced in working with cancer patients.
A trained professional will know how to avoid certain places on a patient’s body, where and when to use gentler movements, and how to work with the medical team to determine a patient’s needs and limitations.
Work with your doctor or other members of your medical team to find a good oncology massage therapist. Your doctors are likely to know of trained massage therapists and may even work with one or two, and recommend them to patients.
Even if you choose a therapist unrelated to your medical team, talk to your doctor about it, and keep all members of the medical team in the loop so that you get the best all-around care.
There are so many important benefits of massage therapy for mesothelioma patients. To complement traditional treatments, use massage therapy to help mitigate pain and other treatment side effects, have more energy and mobility and be better equipped to cope emotionally with living with and battling cancer.
