massage and bodywork professionals

a community of practitioners

One of my clients has diabetes.

Last time she came to me she said that she had just eaten and the bloodsugarlevel was allright before the massage.

I massaged her for one hour and I did not go very deep, and her neck was very sore, so I was careful and used light touch there. After this massage she said she was shaking and she said it felt like it was like the bloodsugarlevel was falling, even though the blodsugar was totally ok right before the massage.

Later on that same evening she started coldsweating and felt like she had fever.

Then the next morning she felt just fine and the body felt alot better than before the massage.

What do you guys think happend here?

Views: 372

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

in general ,not directly massage therapy can affect  glucose metabolism by reducing production of stress hormone/ cortisol, that increasing receptors insulin resistance, but as you described clinical picture it doesn't look like massage procedure had any affect on glucose level in this particular case. If immediately before treatment she  received insulin injection and you massaged area  of injection then possible she got some momentum  of  hypoglycemia. Back in Soviet Russia, we used to teach self massage on injection area which use to increase significantly insulinotherapy.BTW. Here in the US I also teach clients to do it immediately after injection. It works.

But back to your client case. Congratulation you did great job.:” the body felt alot better than before the massage”. this symptoms:” she started coldsweating and felt like she had fever” it also typical when massage triggering emotional memory release , and usually next day people feeling much better than previous days. When I able to trigger this emotional releases I always feel very happy because I know, that from this moment clients will start improving faster.

Best wishes.

Boris

Thank you so much Boris!!! 

It sounds really interesting with the insulinotherapy. I am going to talk with my client again and ask her about the injection that particular day. Its good to hear what you say about this emotional memory releases too. Thank you yet again Boris! :)

Best wishes from Ingrid 

I am prediabetic, and have to keep myself aware of eating times and what I eat. I have felt this from massage several times. Usually eating within the hour before receiving therapy helps me.... but I have a somewhat opposite issue. The incident that stands out the most for me tho was when we were practicing reflexology. A classmate found a huge "knot" at my pancreas site in my foot and dug into it. It took a few minutes before I felt anything but as soon as I took a deep breath and sat up it felt as if my blood sugar dropped. I had the cold sweats, dizziness, shaking. So along with the injection site, also be aware of reflex points you may be working on.

There is no way of determining what happened here, too many unknown variables, such as,

  • Is she  insulin dependant? If so, did you massage the injection site? Massage increases the uptake of insulin into the cells
  • Did she have an underlying cold or flu, as evidenced by the presence of fever and chills? Blood sugar levels are affected by fever.
  • You have no way of knowing what she ate, or if she ate, and how that alone may have affected the blood sugar levels.
  • Etc.

It is a good idea to know if your client has injected insulin and the site. Knowing this helps you and your client determine the depth and focus of the massage. A relatively healthy diabetic might want a good, all-over massage to help increase the uptake of insulin. On the other hand, an older, frail, brittle diabetic should not receive massage unless approved and guided by a physician or NP familiar with the client and their individual case.

Your client might want to keep track of her BS before and after a massage so she can make any adjustments or preparations needed, such as being certain she has sugar within reach if the massage drops the BS.

Hope this helps!

Here's a recent study on massage & blood glucose levels

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22052142

Hi Rajam.

Thank you very much for post and link. This is what this site about. Is to exchange useful information in regards of massage therapy . In article was mentioned Swedish massage  application. Usually if I am not mistaking,Swedish massage  for 50 minutes Performed on full body . In article it stated that it was performed for 15 minutes. In my previous post I talked about performing on area of insulin Injections and not on full body. Most likely Iranian scientist perform it local for 15 minutes and got great results.  Iranian  physical therapy/massage therapy from 50s to what I know was still in 70s , used to be methodology of Russian scientist, Prof.Sherback. In 70s huge groups of physical therapists from Iran, did study in Soviet  sports and physical rehabilitation institutions. I personally knew many. No matter what methodology they applied, important massage worked.In article they missed to provide detailed information. This 15 minutes should be applied locally on area of  insulin injection .mainly utilizing flat palm circle motion techniques , periodically including kneading/petrissage . 3 minutes gradually increasing to moderate pressure flat palm circle motion,3 minutes kneading/petrissage. In this manner we working for 10 to15 minutes. Hands must be

 well sanitized/or use surgical gloves, injection area have to be addressed with 70% alcohol, before and after treatment. No lubrication is recommended.

 

Best wishes.

Boris



Rajam K Roose said:

Here's a recent study on massage & blood glucose levels

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22052142

This is really great! Thank you so much guys! This is so informative and inspiring. Lots of things to think about.

I love this forum! :)

 

Ingrid 

Absolutely Ingrid.

it is a pleasure to be helpful. I also love this forum.

Best wishes.

Boris

Ingrid Sagdahl said:

This is really great! Thank you so much guys! This is so informative and inspiring. Lots of things to think about.

I love this forum! :)

 

Ingrid 

Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2024   Created by ABMP.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service