Massage Pathology Chronicles

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson. Within the course of Dr. Johnson.

While reading Chapter 5 in the text book I learned about Nervous pathologies. The nervous is made up of two systems, Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). The brain and spinal cord are what make up the CNS, and all other nervous tissue is the PNS. The brain is divided into 4 parts, the brainstem, the cerebellum, the cerebrum, and the diencephalon. Some general signs and symptoms of a Nervous pathology are dizziness, tremors, loss of coordination, sharp pain in arms and legs, and loss of mental ability. Massage can help relax the muscles and reduce the pain in the arms and legs.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathologies, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson. Within the course of Dr. Johnson.

Chapter 5 is an overview of the nervous system and discusses how to assess the nervous system, what medications are used to treat mood disorders, how to work with visually impaired clients, and other disease & disorders related to nervous system pathologies. This chapter shows how the different parts of the nervous system including central, peripheral, autonomic, somatic, para/sympathetic, transmits information using the neuron/nerve/brain structure system. It also covers how a massage therapist might deal with clients who are visually impaired or on nervous system medications and what kind of accommodations might be needed in the massage room if they are visually impaired.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathology, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, 2nd edition, by Salvo and Anderson. Within the course of Dr. Johnson.

Chapter 6 Neurologic pathologies chapter has a great list of pathologies, central nervous system disorders, infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases just to name a few. I like the way each chapter in the book has every topic listed at the beginning of the chapters. It makes it very easy to find the different pathologies. Easy to find when your client may tell you they have one of these pathologies. You can look it up fast and review the signs and symptoms, treatment and massage considerations. I really like the activities at the end of the chapters. The Musculoskeletal pathologies has a great memorization game you can play it has been a great help for me to retain what I am learning. I also like the diagram coloring, Fantastic! I now know exactly what some of the pathologies are and how they should be treated. One very important thing to remember always is "Proceed very carefully with full communication between you and your client, maybe with some of these pathologies postponing massage treatment is what is needed."

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathologies, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson. Within the course of Dr. Johnson.

In chapter 5, on nervous pathologies, Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is outlined. GBS is a rapidly progressive peripheral nerve paralysis. My sister’s father in law contracted GBS about 3 years ago. Up until that time, he was a vibrant, healthy man who was very active at work, in the community and had many hobbies. As the text stated, the cause is unknown. There was a thought by his doctors that he somehow contracted this from eating chicken that may not have been fully cooked. Either way, his recovery has been very slow and painful, and they are unsure if he will ever regain the vitality and muscle strength that he had. At first, he was totally paralyzed. Slowly, with much intense therapy and medications for pain management, he began to show improvement. He is now able to walk short distances with leg braces and a walker – which is a huge accomplishment for him! The other terrible side of GBS is the accompanying depression that he faces. I do not know if this is somehow linked to GBS or if it perhaps just due to his life changing so dramatically and the feeling of hopelessness that he faced. This has been very hard not only on him, but also his wife and my sister’s whole family. He still requires full time care, and the pain worsens in the evening. Family events are scheduled carefully so that he can attend. He has made improvements due to multiple therapies, including physical, occupational, aquatic based, as well as massage. He continues to fight to recover!

Tags: Guillain-Barre Syndrome Massage Therapy, Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Conditions, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson. Within the course of Dr. Johnson.

Chapter 5 was about Cerebrovascular Accidents, and this is important to me because my mother’s best friend had had a stroke 2 years ago, and she has partially recovered. Her left side is somewhat functional, but she has to lead with her right all the time. This goes for everything from walking to eating. Massage seems to help her with her condition, as she always says she feels much better after I work on her for a short amount of time. It encourages me to continue to learn more about massage whenever I learn that I can help a loved one through difficulties they are having.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Condition Pathology, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists

Bell’s palsy is characterized by facial paralysis on one side. The paralysis is usually proceeded by pain behind the ear that lasts for a few days. It happens quite suddenly. Usually the person will go to bed at night fine and wake up in the morning with the condition. People with this condition experience paralysis or sometimes just weakness on one side of their face. The face will droop on the affected side and the expression will remain flat. If the upper part of the face is affected, you will be unable to blink your eye or it will be difficult to blink. Doctor’s are still unsure as to the cause, but know it has to do with the function of cranial nerve VII. They think that it could be an inflammatory condition that affects the nerve. Facial muscles attach to the skin allowing us to make many expressions. When these muscles are paralyzed, they begin to atrophy. Massage can be used to stimulate circulation in the face and maintain the health of the muscles. Massage can also help encourage the muscles to move and ease the discomfort associated with Bell’s palsy.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Bell’s Palsy, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathology

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson.

Chapter 5– This chapter was about nervous pathologies. The beginning of the chapter started with an overview of the nervous system. This was a nice review. It broke the nervous system down into three basic functions: Sensory, integrative, and motor. It mentioned that the spinal chord and brain make up the central nervous system and that all the remaining nervous tissue outside of that is part of the Central nervous system. The review section also discusses the autonomic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. On page 146 the text talks about some of general manifestations of nervous system diseases. Some example include, dizziness, tremors, and loss of coordination. Then the chapter includes many pathologies from pages 147 -168. This chapter touches on disorders such as multiple sclerosis, cerebal palsy as well as mood disorders such as depression. For many of the diseases massage could be done and was often recommended depending on the pathology being discussed. Sometimes the massage therapist needed to obtain clearance from the primary health provider prior to performing any treatment. The one disease I learned the most about was shingles. I did not realize this is neurological. It didn’t touch on in much in chapter 5, but referred me back to chapter 3. After doing additional research I learned how it was neurological and how it "hibernates" for years.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathology, Massage Therapy Shingles

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson.

Therapies such as massage, physical and occupational directly affect the nervous system.  I have chosen 2 areas of interest due to the multitude of nervous pathologies presented.

Not only is knowledge of the nervous system highly important for understanding why various massage techniques can be helpful or harmful, but it is also crucial understand the impact of prescription medications on a client in order to keep him or her safe. For example, Table 5.1 gives a brief overview of medications that are typically prescribed for mood disorders, and the possible side effects that could impact treatment. A client on a particular medication may have a decreased response to stimuli. Because massage therapists use the client’s response to various pressures and movements, he or she may be injured due to the therapist inadvertently applying excessive pressure.

Another piece of Chapter 5 that was of particular interest to me was the small portion devoted to Cerebral Palsy. Working in special education, I find that many times individuals automatically assume that the individual has impaired mental functioning, although with this disorder, intelligence may or may not be affected. Although the client may appear to be severely disabled, he or she should not be treated as though they have a cognitive disability or impaired mental functioning. If the client is unable to speak, it is important to speak and interact with the client as you would any other client, and make every effort to communicate effectively so that the individual feels comfortable and can let the therapist know of pressure points, etc. Some individuals may also use a communication device or have the assistance of a caregiver or interpreter- both of which should be taken advantage of in terms of maximizing communication with the client.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathologies, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson.

Chapter 5 covers a review of the nervous system including assessment of the nervous system, medications used to treat mood disorders, discussion about visually impaired client, and disease & disorders related to nervous pathologies. This chapter emphasizes the relationship of the aspects of the nervous system (central, peripheral, autonomic, somatic, para/sympathetic, etc.), how information is transmitted in the nervous system, neuron/nerve/brain structure, and how to interact with clients who are visually impaired or on nervous system medications.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathology, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists

Nerves are very important to pay attention too, not only can it make the experience of a massage for a client very uncomfortable and possibly painful to where you can loose clients but you could seriously damage someone if you are not careful and pay attention to specific clients problems and medical background that they communicate with you, and have filled out on their client intake form. My father has a lot of different nerve problems that have just come on with different problems in his life that even he forgets about so its always important to be sensitive to the clients body and take every new area with caution.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathology

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson.

On this chapter, it makes me learn more about the CNS and the PNS. It also explained to me about the therapeutic assessment with the clients and how to deal with those who have nervous pathologies. Also explain to me about stretching and joint mobilizations (before you work with a client). It also help me to deal with a visually impaired client of how to take care of them and let them know that you are in the room and introduce yourself slowly, and explain to the visually impaired client of what you are going to do with them so that they are aware.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathology, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists

Review of Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists, by Salvo and Anderson.

It is important to learn the symptoms of Nervous System diseases as many of them are massage contraindicated. By learning what the function and process of the Nervous System, this could benefit you greatly by allowing you to assess someone with a nervous system issue and decide what would be the proper technique to use on them or to not massage at all.

Tags: Massage Therapy Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Nervous System Pathology, Mosby’s Pathology for Massage Therapists