Let's face it, in life, we tend to go after sports and leisure activities with a vengeance. We play extreme sports with no thought at how this can and does effect our bodies. Until, that is, we have an injury. Injuries can range from a small cut or bruise to breaking bones, tearing ligaments and muscles to needing things to be replaced with surgery. We have so much fun, that it can and does hurt. A lot of the time, it hurts. This begs the question, what do we do when it hurts?
Surgery. There is a scary word. The first time I had surgery was when I had all four wisdom teeth removed at the same time. Because I was 19 at the time, I got to sign a waiver that stated I could die. That was a risk I was willing to take at the time, due to the amount of pain I was in. There are usually two ways it can go, very good, or not so good at all.
In either case, here are some things to think about before getting a massage. Have you been released from your doctor for massage? The reason this is so important is because when there are complications, there is a big risk to be taken when giving a massage. Blood clots often form and through massage, they can be knocked loose and travel through your body. These little guys can relocate to a new and exciting place, such as your heart or lungs or worse yet, your brain. We, as therapists, do not, under any circumstance wish for this to happen. An embolism, or clot, can be very deadly. There is also the risk of infection after going through surgery. Massage, helps to get the fluids in your body moving. Moving the infection, is again, not something we want to do. As a therapist, anytime you have surgery, I personally, always get a doctors release for massage. It's in your best interest, as well as my own. Every person, every time, even my own mother.
In the case of the most common kinds of surgery, there are a lot of good reasons to consider going with massage to help recover, many of which are backed by science and research. I, however, don't know all of the exact details of these studies, but I will link the information that I got for this here, here and here. I will be using my own personal experience as a therapist as backing to this as well. You don't work for years at a doctor's office and not learn a whole lot about the body and how it heals, or doesn't as the case may be for some.
Massage helps to reduce pain. In a study done in Ann Arbor, Dr. Daniel Hinshaw states that getting a massage can be equivalent to getting a shot of morphine. Massage also seems to help the body heal faster due to the blood and oxygen moving through the body. The area that was operated on is getting more fluids and oxygen moved helping the healing process move more quickly. And who doesn't want to heal faster?
Massage can also help aid in relieving stress associated with going through a major surgery. For one, when you're not up to par, you are unable to do the things that are normal for everyone else, such as buttoning a pair of pants, or zipping your coat. This can be so frustrating. Massage helps to ease the stress of not being able to do all the things that you're used to being able to do. Massage will also help you sleep, which, aids in the recovery process tremendously. In fact, while sleeping, your body is a recovery process. Better sleep makes for an easier, better recovery.
Another fantastic benefit of massage is it can help lessen the amount of scar tissue around the surgical sight. I love to tell folks that chicks dig scars, but, really, we are more worried about how bad the scar will look then we want to admit to. Scared tissue can feel like it's stuck and often hard to move around. Take for instance the replacement of a knee joint. There is a huge scar running the length of the knee area. By using simple techniques, massage can help lessen that scar and also keep the scar tissue underneath from becoming to bound up. Which will lead me to my next point of massage will help to gain mobility as well as range of motion and flexibility of this joint.
Still dealing with that knee joint, the massage will help to get that joint to move the full 120 degrees that is needed to get back on the bike. For other activities that will require a greater range of motion, massage helps to loosen the muscles so you can get further into that kick, deeper into that squat and more power when jumping.
Keep in mind, most surgeries will require some kind of physical therapy. They will push you hard to get you to move the proper way again. And that will hurt, and it will test you, but after it's done, and you're at your massage, and the therapist is working the pain out of it, and you relax, you're able to focus on something other than the pain. You're able to see that you will get through this and that even though it's a set back in your plans, (no one thinks about surgery as something to do at age whatever to have a replacement part put in, or taken out, or grafted or any thing like that. It's part of being alive here on our earth.) you can take comfort in knowing that there are ways to help deal with the recovery process of being out for surgery.
Why is this important you may ask. For one, at some point, we will all be in the company of another who is going through, has gone through, or about to have surgery. If there is a way to help ease the fear, the tension, and the anxiety of going through surgery, wouldn't you want to relay the message to them? I can't say that it will be right for everyone, that's a silly gross negligent comment. It's not always going to be the right choice, but, that being said, at least you now know that it's an option and can help even the most stubborn of people.
