Massage Pathology Chronicles

When dealing with patients with diseases that affect the endocrine system, it is important to take into consideration these diseases when formulating a plan of care. For examples, if a massage therapist has a client who has Diabetes Mellitus type II, special care needs to be taken to ensure the patient is safe from having an attack. It is important that the massage therapist check the client for any bruises and/or open areas that he or she might not be aware of. Wounds are very serious and can be dangerous and even life threatening to a diabetic due to the substantial decrease in the body’s ability to heal properly. Massage therapists also have to consider the possibility that a diabetic might at any moment have their sugar bottom out. In this instance, it is important for the therapist to have talked to the client beforehand and discuss what the client needs done if he or she has a sudden drop in their blood sugar level. While ideally a client would have eaten prior to the massage therapy session, this is not always the case. The therapist needs to be aware of if and where the client keeps his or her medication in case the therapist has to give the client something to stimulate the patient during the therapy session. Therapists should also ideally have some items on hand such as sugary soft drinks that can have sugar added to them or even maple syrup, which is the best thing a diabetic can be given to raise their blood sugar in the shortest amount of time, in the facility where the therapy is being performed to help raise the client’s blood sugar levels. While massage therapy can help a diabetic handle anxiety issues and improve circulation, it can also help to restore some elasticity to tissues that have become hardened due to the buildup of sugars in one’s body. While massage therapy needs to be administered carefully to a client with diabetes, the therapeutic benefits one stands to gain from massage therapy outweigh the risks when administered properly.

Tags: Massage Pathology Chronicles, Massage Therapy Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 II, Massage Therapy Pathology

This entry was posted on July 21, 2010 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Endocrine Pathology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.