Massage lymph drainage

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Oaks

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Apr 21, 2017
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I have a lady booked in for a massage. She has had cancer and had her lymph nodes removed from under her left arm. She said her left arm pit cannot be used a drainage point so another site needs to be used. Can anyone offer any advice on this??
 
It sounds as though you are exceeding the limits of your training. This means that you can’t judge whether you can massage her safely AND you won’t be insured..

Only cancer specialist therapists can do lymph drainage massage on someone with a damaged lymph system. There’s only one course and only 2 trainers in the UK. You can read about lymph drainage massage for those who’’ve had cancer on the Macmillan website. It’s a medical treatment.
 
Yes i agree. I explained that i would not be able to carry out the massage and cancelled the appointment. Thank you for your reply
 
I would call a local hospice and ask their recommendation so you can reschedule and help your client.

Many of the hospices offer training for free, and you can visit to give massages as a donation to people going through treatment that can’t afford to get one like once a month or whatever. Great way to learn about it. Cancer isn’t something to be afraid of and in my experience, those I’ve met are mostly in end of life care really and would rather have the massage and feel nice for a short while than not have one and be in pain at home; with the full backing of their consultants. They will be on first name terms either the consultants and they easily obtain a note to say they can have it or any special things to avoid. There has never been anything to avoid in my own experience except bony growths on feet which can be sharp under skin or drains on the back. Though nothing would surprise me and I would willingly accommodate. I only ever take a photo of the note for my records of insurance so that the client doesn’t need to obtain another and waste more of their precious time getting another for other services elsewhere.

As for the lymph drainage, it is an expensive treatment in comparison to regular massage and your client may not be able to afford it, or they may be under the impression all massage is lymph drainage and be worried (in which case they would be correct as skeletal muscle movement is the only way for the lymph to be drained).

I would have avoided armpits altogether if they had mentioned any area with an issue but explained lymph drainage is a way the body removes wastes and is doing it all the time, whenever they walk or move their arms and while massage is not proven to move cancer cells through the lymph system, the decision is all theirs whether they want it done. Then I would do it anyway. I’ve seen too many people in too much pain already at the end of their lives just wanting some peace and to be touched without being stabbed with needles or wearing ice on their head. Or getting undressed but privately without having to be seen by everyone and just get a bit of themselves back. I would be more wary if it was an easy to treat cancer or with more chance of secondary growths as there is more chance it’s going to be moving around the body and I wouldn’t want to be responsible for encouraging that movement unless I had that note. I don’t believe massage would do any more harm than walking in terms of lymph movement. But I only care about facts and doctors advice.
 
Good points HouseBeauty, you're very right and I might have misunderstood the original post.

I completely agree that cancer isn't something to be scared of. I'm not qualified to do lymph drainage massage on a damaged lymph system, but I will massage anyone at any stage of their cancer journey. This is because I trained though, I don't think anyone should "have a go" on a client on the basis of gut instinct, intuition and best intentions. Training empowers you with the knowledge you need to realise how safe it is to massage people living with cancer.

In the UK, cancer isn't covered by standard training and you do need to train in order to be insured. If you start doing treatments which your insurers would refuse to cover, you might actually void your entire policy, not just the clients you take outside your insurance cover. (Insurance is slightly off topic, so I won't go into this).

I wasn't aware that Hospices would train you from scratch. I trained first. There are lots of excellent cancer training courses and even brands that specialise in cancer treatments. Most families are affected by cancer so if you are in business for long enough, all of your clients will need support from you at some point. It makes commercial sense to train in cancer and it's emotionally very rewarding.
 

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