Simple Massage Therapy Techniques Improve Symptoms of Cancer Patients

I wrote recently about the positive effects that massage therapy has for people suffering from breast cancer. Massage therapy has been proven to help women going through cancer treatment, both in improving levels of important compounds in their blood as well as generally improving their mood, well-being, and post-surgical pain.

New research reported by massagemag.com shows that massage therapy can help many other cancer patients as well, no matter what the stage of their cancer. The Web site cited a study, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, which focused on nearly 100 cancer patients and their caregivers.  Some of the caregivers were shown a DVD instructional video and an illustrated manual that demonstrated how to use simple touch and massage techniques.

As with the previous research on breast cancer and massage therapy, the results were fairly dramatic in demonstrating the benefit of massage therapy. While both the control group of caretakers and the group of caretakers providing massage therapy helped reduce the level of cancer symptoms in their patients, the reduction was more pronounced in the group that provided the simple massage therapy techniques.

In fact, the level of symptom reduction in the patients who received massage therapy was generally greater by more than a 2-to-1 rate, with stress and anxiety, pain, fatigue, depression, and nausea specific symptoms that saw a higher level of reduction with the group that used massage.

Yet another therapeutic benefit of massage therapy, with, no doubt, many more to be discovered in the world and written about here.

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5 Responses to “Simple Massage Therapy Techniques Improve Symptoms of Cancer Patients”

  1. [...] the numerous other studies and scientific conclusions that we’ve written about here (in regard to cancer patients, old age, eating disorders, etc.) and is a major conclusion of the two studies cited last [...]

  2. [...] can thus be a major contributor to one’s general wellness as its therapeutic properties help people suffering through cancer, people suffering from allergies, and even people trying to lose weight! Share and [...]

  3. [...] so (which is why it’s used at hospitals, and prescribed for conditions ranging from knee pain to cancer, among others). And we all know that massage therapy is a great way to pamper oneself or a [...]

  4. [...] know that massage therapy can be a soothing complementary treatment to medical conditions such as cancer and asthma. New research is showing that massage therapy can help burn patients as well, a [...]

  5. stress & anxiety…

    [...]Simple Massage Therapy Techniques Improve Symptoms of Cancer Patients[...]…

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