Massage Therapy Improves Your Pain and Stress Levels

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Massage Therapy Improves Your Pain and Stress
Levels

• Strive Physiotherapy Performance

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Synopsis

1. A prescription for exercise Why its important
   to stick to the schedule
2. Almost 80 of Canadians have accessed
   complementary therapies at least once in their
   lifetime
3. How can massage therapy help children and
   adolescents living with pain and discomfort
4. Getting from post-hip and knee surgery pain to
   performance with physiotherapy
5. Alleviating cancer-related joint pain through
   acupuncture

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A prescription for exercise Why its important
to stick to the schedule

• The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines 2018
  says that being active for just 150 minutes per
  week can help reduce the risk of heart disease,
  type 2 diabetes and various other chronic
  illnesses as well as prevent obesity and overall
  body function deterioration. The guidelines also
  underline the benefits of including bone and
  muscle strength exercises into the program for at
  least two days a week. How to adapt these to
  holiday mode? Easy brisk walking, bike riding or
  jogging can all do the trick while being away.
• To reinforce the significance of sticking to an
  active schedule, new studies have been published
  by the University of Liverpool in England which
  look into the impacts of being inactive, even for
  a short period of time. The researchers asked 45
  adult men and women who have been previously
  physically active to abruptly start sitting more.
  Participants were clocking in over 10,000 steps
  in most days before the study kicked off and all
  of them tested disease free. Once the study
  started, they were asked to reduce their steps to
  under 2,000 and sit for more than three and a
  half hours per day, for two weeks. Respondents
  underwent then an initial health evaluation,
  following which they were permitted to return to
  their normal routines for two weeks and then
  tested again for comparison.
• The findings were worrisome. Almost all
  participants had developed metabolic
  derangements during the two weeks of inactivity
  which translated into high blood sugar levels,
  less healthy cholesterol profiles and minor
  muscle mass loss around the legs. They also put
  on weight, specifically around the abdomen.

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Almost 80 of Canadians have accessed
complementary therapies at least once in their
lifetime

• A recent Fraiser Institute survey has revealed
  that 8 in 10 Canadians (79) have used a form of
  alternative medicine. This marks an increase from
  74 in 2006 and 73 in 1997, when two previous
  similar surveys were conducted. Interestingly
  enough, the preferred types of complimentary
  therapies have stood their ground over time, with
  acupuncture and massage therapy being in the top
  4. The most common health conditions reported
  were back or neck problems (34), allergies
  (27), and arthritisor rheumatism (23). To help
  better address these and complement their
  treatment plans, over three-quarters adult
  Canadians have accessed at least one form of care
  that falls outside of mainstream healthcare. This
  number has increased by 5 since 2006 which can
  only mean positive progress after years and years
  of stigma and disbelief.
• In 2016, massage was the most common type of
  therapy with 44 of Canadians having tried it at
  least once, making it also one of the most
  rapidly expanding therapies. With current
  lifestyle patterns which are guaranteeing more
  musculoskeletal problems than ever before, it
  comes as no surprise that people are investing
  more in manual therapies to relieve tension and
  pain.
• Massage might just be one of the oldest forms of
  medical care, dating back to ancient Egypt where
  tomb paintings portray people being massaged. But
  how are the techniques actually benefitting the
  body? In a modern approach the beneficial effects
  of massage therapy are best described as a
  gathering of interconnected adaptive responses.
  Just imagine that the human skin has over 5
  million touch receptors and about 3,000 can be
  found at a fingertip level.

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How can massage therapy help children and
adolescents living with pain and discomfort

• While strong evidence is available to back up the
  benefits of massage therapy in adults living with
  painful conditions and that has led to clinical
  recommendations being put in place, when it comes
  to youth populations, there is still more work to
  be done. The studies that have been conducted so
  far lack statistical significance, but they
  nevertheless show a great deal of promise. For
  instance, a small study evaluated 44 children and
  adolescents aged between 9 and 19 years old
  suffering from severe chronic pain. Massage
  therapy reportedly reduced pain by 33 and
  tension by 44.
• At the same time, we all know there is a strong
  link between stress and the immune systems
  performance. When stress hormone are high they
  destroy healthy immune cells. Various massage
  techniques are specifically performed to target
  points throughout the body to promote relaxation
  and increase the levels of serotonin and
  dopamine. This can mean the world to many
  pediatric patients in need of relief and it
  better equips them to fight their condition.
• As far as the childs response to massage goes,
  the majority are receptive to the technique and
  can quickly experience a sense of happiness and
  mood improvement, often feeling asleep during the
  session. There is regardless important to
  acknowledge that because of past medical
  experiences and being unfamiliar with this type
  of touch, they might not know what to expect so
  naturally they might be reluctant or frightened.
  This is not abnormal.

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Getting from post-hip and knee surgery pain to
performance with physiotherapy

• A Harvard expert has explained the implications
  of hip and knee replacement surgery and how to
  best manage symptoms pre and post intervention.
  When comparing the two, hip replacement comes as
  the least painful and complicated surgery as the
  replacements are put straight into the bones.
  Knee replacement on the other hand requires
  releasing ligaments and working with bone
  components and many times additional joint
  conditions such as arthritis which raises other
  risks. When it comes to recovery, hip replacement
  will call for the use of crutches while a knee
  replacement may take anything between six month
  to a year to even remotely feel the joints are
  back to normal.
• Whats a given in both cases is that
  physiotherapy is a must in the continuum of care.
  Rehabilitation is the most important thing to do
  following total joint replacement to ensure pain
  is relieved and as best as possible function is
  regained. And it should be started as soon as
  possible.
• Physiotherapy is a fundamental part of the
  recovery process and it has been for many years
  due to its effectiveness and improved patient
  outcomes reported. Its important to start gently
  moving the knee or hip as quickly after the
  surgery, unless otherwise told so by the doctor
  or physiotherapist. Studies point out that
  various types of physiotherapy are needed to
  reach optimal results. For instance, one research
  showed that accelerated physiotherapy improved
  activity a week following the operation as well
  as after 6 weeks and 3 months. Another one
  revealed that hydrotherapy combined with
  land-based therapy resulted in cardiovascular and
  nervous systems changes, thus enhancing recovery
  and reducing joint load.

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Alleviating cancer-related joint pain through
acupuncture

• A randomized clinical trial conducted in 2018 and
  published in Jama has investigated the effects
  acupuncture in releasing joint pain associated
  with hormone therapy among women with early stage
  breast cancer. The study took place at 11
  academic centers and clinical sites in the United
  States and involved patients who scored at least
  3 on a pain inventory from 0 to 10 with 10 being
  the most severe one.
• The technique of acupuncture has been around for
  thousands of years and it involves the use of
  thin, metallic needles manipulated manually or
  through electric stimulation to penetrate the
  surface of the skin. The therapys efficiency
  across various symptoms and conditions continues
  to be explored by experts. In the study, it was
  found that after six weeks of undergoing
  acupuncture sessions, participants reported a
  decrease in pain levels by an average of 2.05
  points. For many, it may seem like an
  insignificant finding, but on the contrary these
  results are remarkable in paving the way for
  better treatment for breast cancer patients.

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The End

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