Post Surgery Massage Therapy

My goal in writing this article is to educate thebecause of untreated contractures, muscle
public, but most principally medical students andadhesions, guarding muscles and scar tissues and
physicians and surgeons to the need to informits resulting consequences of reduced range of
post-surgery patients of the benefits of massagemotion. Therapeutic massage has been
therapy in reducing contractures, relaxing musclesscientifically proven to assist in solving these type
which have become tight and guarding due to theof post-surgery issues.
trauma of the surgery and the displacement byI have achieved tremendous reductions in pain
surgical tools, and the laying down of collagenand noticeable and measurable improvements in
substructures which cause scar tissues around thetissue texture suppleness, and increased range of
incision and surrounding tissues. There is alwaysmotion from the application of repeated
enormous swelling and reduced flexibility andtherapeutic massage treatments for a range of
stiffness following surgery. The incision site andsurgery patients. The clients which have benefited
the underlying adhesions to muscle tissue andfrom these treatments include shoulder
fascia because of tension, displacement, androtator-cuff surgeries, breast reconstruction
cutting/suturing create scar tissue. It is vital thatpost-mastectomy, knee re-construction, hip
that incision site and joints be massaged after 7replacement, and bi-femoral bypass affecting the
days of healing. Of course pressure and intensitygroin and abdominal regions.
of massage will be light at first and will increase asI would like to emphasize the importance to our
time goes on helping to reduce swelling, redness,post-surgery patients in reducing their
and pain.post-surgery trauma, pain, and assist in improving
I encounter many clients who are post-surgerythe mobility and flexibility of tissue and joints
and who have never received any instruction bythrough the use of regular therapeutic massage
their general physicians or surgeons to seektreatments.
massage therapy as an integral and necessaryI am disappointed and angry when my patients
part of their post-surgery treatment. I don't knowtell me that their surgeons and physicians tell
whether this information is not made available atthem that there is no benefit for them to receive
universities or whether the consequences ofmassage therapy post-surgery. My patients
neglecting to inform patients is not fullycomments are all the same:
appreciated."I was not told of the benefits of therapeutic
The result is that the post-surgery population ismassage treatments after my surgery".
suffering needlessly in pain for months and years