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By admin, December 12, 2008 12:20 pm

Therapeutic Massage May Benefit Cancer Patients in Jacksonville FL

Studies have shown that therapeutic massage is beneficial to patients afflicted with cancer, from the initial stages to the most advanced stages of the disease. Cancer patients in Duval County, Ortega and Westside can ask for many types of Massage Therapy, including reflexology massage therapy, Swedish massage therapy, deep tissue massage therapy and sports massage therapy, from a professional massage spa in Jacksonville FL.

Te existence of the Society for Oncology Massage is in itself a testament to the benefits of massage to cancer patients. Oncology is the medical study that focuses on cancer and cancer treatments. According to the website of the Society for Oncology Massage, Oncology Massage is “the adaptation of massage to safely nurture body, mind and spirit of anyone who is dealing with cancer.”

The Oncology Massage Healing Summit in 2007 marked the establishment of the Society for Oncology Massage. The Summit convened 20 faculty members from learning institutions and over 150 therapists from all over the country. Based in Maine, the Society they founded is a non-profit organization.

Many scientific researches have been done on the positive impact of massage on people with cancer. In fact in 90 years from 1900 to 1990 there has been an average of 31 yearly citations to massage and cancer in medical studies. In the next 9 years from 1991 to 2000, the yearly average of those citations rose drastically to 294. Then in the four years from 2001 to 2005, it rose to more than three times as much, to an average of 1106 yearly citations. In the two years from 2006 to 2008, it rose even higher to an average of 1370 yearly citations.

According to many of those studies, therapeutic massage significantly decreases the level of pain, nausea, fatigue, anxiety and depression in patients suffering from cancer.

One of those studies entitled “Massage therapy reduces physical discomfort and improves mood disturbances in women with breast cancer” was published online in February 2009. Done at the Charité Center for Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany, the study tested the effect of classical massage treatment in reducing the symptoms and easing mood disturbances among patients with breast cancer.

The test included 86 female patients who all had primary early stage breast cancer. Their average age was 59. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups – the control group and the massage intervention group. The control group did not receive any massage intervention while the massage intervention group received thirty minutes of classical massage therapy covering the head, neck and back two times a week for five consecutive weeks. By the end of the study, patients in the massage intervention group showed significantly decreased physical discomfort and levels of fatigue along with significantly improved mood. It was also shown that mood was more improved in cases where the patients were treated consistently by the same massage therapist throughout the study.

Another paper entitled “Role of Massage Therapy in Cancer Care” was published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in March 2008. The paper reviewed other scientific literature discussing the impact of massage on patients with cancer. Most of the benefits mentioned were relief from pain, fatigue, anxiety and nausea; improved immune system responses; better sleep and improved quality of relaxation.

Patients with cancer in Duval County, Ortega and Westside may want to make their own therapeutic massage test by trying out the various massage therapy modalities such as reflexology massage therapy, Swedish massage therapy, deep tissue massage therapy and sports massage therapy. The only massage modality that may not be appropriate for them would be pregnancy massage therapy. They should, however, first disclose their condition to the massage therapist in the professional massage spa they choose in Jacksonville FL.

About the Author

Massage Envy Ortega
6331 Roosevelt Blvd, Ste 8
Jacksonville, FL 32244
Phone: (904) 224-5405
Fax: (904) 224-5409
Email: clinic0130@massageenvy.com
Website: www.massageenvy.com/clinics/FL/Ortega.aspx

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