When is massage therapy contraindicated

Massage What are the contraindications to massage? Undiagnosed Migraines Active cancer Undiagnosed tumor Rheumatoid arthritis Deep vein thrombosis High blood pressure Herpes Under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs Undiagnosed pain What other conditions should I report to my massage therapist?

Cancer If you are pregnant What should I do if I have these conditions? Why is my medical history important when having a massage? Leave a Reply Cancel Reply My comment is.. Share Tweet Share Pin. Follow Us. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.

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Cautions about massage therapy include the following: Vigorous massage should be avoided by people with bleeding disorders, low blood platelet counts and by people taking blood-thinning medications such as Warfarin. Massage should not be done in any area of the body with blood clots, fractures, open or healing wounds, skin infections, weakened bones such as from osteoporosis or cancer or where there has been a recent surgery.

Although massage therapy appears to be generally safe for cancer patients, they should consult their oncologist before having a massage that involves deep or intense pressure. Any direct pressure over a tumor usually is discouraged. Cancer patients should discuss any concerns about massage therapy with their oncologist.

Pregnant women should consult their health care provider before using massage therapy. General Contraindications For certain medical conditions massage therapy is generally contraindicated , or should be avoided at the time.

Clients should avoid using alcohol or drugs before a massage. Another problem is that massage increases circulation and since drugs and alcohol can cross the blood brain barrier your client can experience increased intoxication. A patient who is in shock must not get a massage.

If your patient just had or is having a stroke or acute heart attack, under no circumstance perform a massage. Perform first aid and call the nearest hospital if your client had a stroke during the massage. Individuals must first get past the acute stage or acute phase of the disease before getting a massage.

People are highly at risk of a second stroke within a month of the initial stroke. Whereas, the chance of getting another stroke decreases considerably after six months. The idea of getting a massage right after a person strained a muscle might sound promising, but that is not the case. Severe Injury is another contraindication that a must be taken into consideration since massage might aggravate the damaged area. An individual with acute injury must wait awhile to get a massage.

Otherwise, it will slow down or interfere with the normal healing process. An injury that worsened after having a massage. It is better to just wait for the injury to improve before getting a massage. When you or your client have no idea what caused internal pain or a severe headache, stop the massage immediately. Massage is contraindicated at times when your client suddenly suffers other conditions like sleepiness, dizziness, numbness, severe headache with or without a medical history of these conditions.

It is vital for your client to immediately consult a doctor before you start giving a massage. Or before continuing therapy if your client experienced any combination of the conditions mentioned during a massage. A massage immediately after a major surgery is an absolute contraindication. When a person just had major surgery, the surgical procedure often penetrated or exposed a body cavity.

Your client might have just gone through an extensive dissection or transection of the tissues or an orthopedic related process. The procedure of a major surgery is potentially dangerous as the surgery may have caused a physiologic or anatomic impairment permanently.

Massage of any kind must not be performed on a client who just underwent major surgery. A client's doctor will most likely not recommend a massage after a major surgery until healing and recuperating. Unfortunately for some this might take some time. As a massage therapist encourage your client to wait for approval from their doctor. What can be considered as high fever? The risk of a massage therapist catching the disease is high and there is a possibility of spreading it to other clients, co-workers, and family members.

People with severe hemophilia do not typically shows signs of the condition. This makes it a total contraindication for massage. During the risks and side effects, it is a good time to talk about situations that may cause complications and have them explain any health history that might suggest a specific massage technique. Each massage technique is unique and the information from the initial assessment will allow you to come up with a treatment plan with the right mix of techniques.

Do they have any allergies to latex or any other substances? Learn as much as you can during the initial assessment so you can create a best possible plan for the client. At the beginning of every new massage session, it is important for you to see if anything has changed with the client. Did they start any new medications, have any procedures or new aches and pains they need to focus on this session?

Create a questionnaire that they fill out and include authorization forms that they need to sign. It is better to be safe than sorry.

It is important for you to keep all the information a client tells you confidential and to show discretion about personal topics. It is a good guideline for massage therapist to adhere to as well. You also want to show discretion with a client. This is an easy way to lose a client. They trust you with very personal information and they expect you to show discretion. Becoming a massage therapist is a great way to help people with a non-invasive and natural therapy.