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Cancer and Massage • What is cancer? • How does cancer affect the body? • How does massage therapy affect cancer? by Deborah Romano, RN, BSN, LMT his article to enlighten people with cancer, for those who have friends and family diagnosed with cancer, and for the therapists who are interesting in providing massage for their clients with cancer. I am a registered nurse with my bachelor’s degree in nursing, and I am also a practicing licensed massage therapist.
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Lucy asked the question in an article by Psychology Today1, “Why is it so difficult to get a massage when you have cancer?”. She found it frustrating when she was repeatedly turned away and told it was a contraindication to massage someone with cancer. Eventually she started hiding the fact she had cancer. This could be counterproductive for her recovery efforts. A therapist needs to know the health of the client in order to provide a tailor maid session with optimum benefits and to not do any harm. Certain precautions need to be taken for a person with cancer. A client’s prognosis, therapy, and current health condition must be taken into consideration when preparing for a treatment session. Close contact with the client’s oncology team is needed to develop a strategy. Legal forms must be obtained and consent from the providing doctor before therapy can begin. With these thoughts in mind I invite you to peruse the material I have compiled together on the relevant subject of cancer and what it is and how it affects the body? Likewise, what tests, treatments and complementary medicine are currently in use for treating cancer. Lastly, what
contraindications and cautions should be used when providing a massage to a client with cancer and what legal issues or concerns may come up when caring for a client with cancer.
What is Cancer? Cancer is the uncontrolled replication of mutated cells into tumors2. These tumors can invade surrounding tissues, spread throughout the body, and, are sometimes fatal. We all have precancerous cells within the body, but specific conditions need to exist for them to proliferate. We have 37.2 trillion cells within our body. The potential for abnormalities is present: sometimes cells go haywire and die off or some are killed by our immune system. One cell over the next 5-40 years may become a detectable mass of cancer. A normal cell must depend upon its host for food and blood supply2. A cancer cell, however, maintains an autonomous sustainability, providing itself with its own supply of blood and nutrients. Cancer cells thrive in an inflammatory environment. It is therefore necessary to learn what is causing our body to have an inflammatory response and avoid those triggers. Cancer is named for the area of the body it targets and invades, such as, lung cancer or prostate cancer. Cancer is a mutated gene and can be inherited from a parent or may be caused internally by a defective gene. Other times, people get cancer from external factors, such as chemical exposure in their environment. The leading cause of cancer remains tobacco smoke. Other harmful choices linked to cancer are dietary items, drugs, alcohol, and sex -such as, the human papillomavirus (HPV). Healing Springs I #105 I Fall ‘19
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