massage and bodywork professionals

a community of practitioners

Exercise and massage are said to have similar effects.Exercise is ok when you have a cold,massage is said to not be ok  for a cold.Is there any research that supports either statement?If massage actually is beneficial in treating a cold appropriate protocol could greatly increase the use of massage .What are your thoughts?

Views: 1348

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

I am very active and fit and work out regularly. I have a cold right now. My body needs to rest and the inflammation response is already stimulated in the acute stage of a cold and/or flu. I know intuitively I should not do any intense exercising. I have had clients in the past that have insisted I work on them when they have a cold and they came back a month or two later saying they would never do that again. It's like adding too much milk to the batter. The inflammation response is doubled so all the symptoms you normally experience are intensified. I have no scientific research at the moment but those are my thoughts and experience with having a cold and exercise and massage......

What modality? Contraindications are specific to each modality and how it is practiced by the therapist. It is not enough to simply say massage. Lymphatic Massage is helpful for speedy recovery. Although if there is a fever it could cause it to spike and that must be watched and controlled.

As Therapists I believe we should always speak in modality specific terms.

For two years I pretty much worked on Japanese tourists... Several times I worked on really sick( bad colds, flu, feverish) people.. To my surprise, it helped them get well?  I remember on one  occasion, actually crawling onto a bed with a sick women that had a high fever and massaging her for an hour...I came back to her hotel four days  in a row...To my sunrise each day she was better.The last day she was well... Her husband and children would leave the hotel room when I worked on her..The money was by the door when I left... They told me that in Japan, they get massages when they are sick.. It was totally against what I was initially taught in school.. So?

They refer to Shiatsu probably which in Japan is common to get when feeling sick. What was it you did? There are so many modalities and they are applicable in many different ways. One being contraindicated does not mean another would be. That is why when studying a form of massage new to you it is important to learn the particular contraindicators.

Hi Robert,

I did a quick pubmed search and there was one article about self-massage and the common cold but it didn't provide the article. You might be able to track down this author and ask him to send you a copy. "Prevention and treatment of rhinitis and common cold by self-massage." Li J. Shashi City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hubei Province. J Tradit Chin Med. 1992 Dec;12(4):290-1.

 

Also, thought you might find this study interesting on moxibustion and acupuncture for reducing symptoms of the cold: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2586319/

 

If ypu would like information on doing TCM for colds, you might ask Zhang Yu (a member on this site) she treats colds regularly with her Xiao Er Tuina.

Yea, Shiatsu.  No oil.

Daniel Cohen said:

They refer to Shiatsu probably which in Japan is common to get when feeling sick. What was it you did? There are so many modalities and they are applicable in many different ways. One being contraindicated does not mean another would be. That is why when studying a form of massage new to you it is important to learn the particular contraindicators.

Nice thoughts about massage but it is not true you can take  massage every where and any time you want..

Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2024   Created by ABMP.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service