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Informative Essay On Massage Therapy

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A couple of decades ago, massage therapists were rare in a hospital setting. Now, we are in many hospitals, both for inpatients and outpatients. More and more, mainstream medicine is seeing how massage can help people during a hospital stay. I have been fortunate to be able to provide massage therapy on four different hospital campuses. What happens during a typical day's work is much different than what a workday looks like in a spa. What can happen in a typical day may surprise you.

Nearly anyone can receive massage therapy in a hospital.

I have provided massage therapy for the very young, the very old, the very sick, pregnant women, children receiving chemotherapy, children with eating disorders, stroke patients, people recovering from heart attacks, accident victims, and probably many others that I can't remember. I have provided massage for people who could barely tolerate touch at all. For those people, Reiki is my method of choice. People who have a lot of equipment attached to them, such as chemotherapy ports or intravenous lines can usually get great comfort from a foot massage. Even people with compromised immune systems can receive massage, if I take the right precautions. …show more content…

If I am seeing a patient with low platelet counts, I have to wear a gown, gloves, mask and shoe protectors. This is to protect the patient from any germs that could travel into the room on my clothing, hands, or shoes, as well as any germs I could expose the patient to by breathing on them. Low platelet counts means that the patient has a compromised immune system. In the early days of my massage career, I used to hate wearing gloves. Now I understand that it still feels good, and I'm glad that a pair of gloves on my hands means that I can offer touch to someone who wouldn't otherwise be able to receive it.

Mainstream medicine now includes

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