Benefits of Massage Therapy for Cancer Patients

Cancer patients go through a lot of physical, psychological and emotional trauma which sometimes gets unmanageable. But recent medical research has proved that along with chemotherapy even massage therapy has many benefits for the cancer patients. While medication and chemo sessions help in internal treatment massage therapy provides a holistic way of enhancing the benefits of other forms of treatment. Massage therapy offers both short term as well as long term benefits to cancer patients. Let us take a look at the various kinds of benefits of massage therapy for cancer patients.

Benefits of Massage Therapy for Cancer Patients

Benefits of Massage Therapy for Cancer Patients

Some of the benefits that massage therapy provides to cancer patients are listed here below :-

Reduces Distress – Massage therapy can help bring down the distress undergone by the cancer patients as a result of the emotional problems which are faced. It brings in a therapeutic response to the treatment that is in progress in a cyclical manner.

Increased Blood Circulation – Massage therapy helps to improve blood flow in the entire body thereby helping the cancer patient to respond faster to medication and other chemotherapies easily. When the blood circulation improves it helps the cancer patient in recovering faster as new blood cells develop in body with massage therapy.

Reduction in Pain – Research has proved that cancer patients who undertake massage therapy are more likely to have reduction in pain, inflammation, muscle spasms and stress that other patients who have not taken massage therapy experience.

Reduced Edema – Normally cancer patients experience edema which is swelling and accumulation of water in the ankles as a result of medication and other nerve debility that occurs during treatment. But massage therapy can help in reducing edema to a great extent by offering lymphatic circulation from time to time.

Improves Mood –  Cancer patients often experience mood swings that turn out to be depressing and sometimes even violent. Massage therapy can help in relaxing the mind of the patient and improves the overall mood vacillations in the cancer patients when undertaken at frequent intervals.

Improves Sleep – Cancer  patients experience improvement in sleep pattern as the distress comes down and the mind and body becomes more relaxed after the massage therapy. Better sleeping pattern has proven to be very beneficial in overall health improvement in cancer patients.

Attaining Normal Life – Massage therapy has the capability of helping cancer patients to get back to normal life quickly by bringing about an overall improvement in physical, emotional and psychological aspects of life.