The Impact of Massage Therapy on Breast Cancer

Jan 31

Massage therapy is a form of manual therapy often used in combination with additional treatment options to relieve pain, promote healing and reduce stress. One of the less widely-known benefits of massage therapy is the relief it can provide for patients during and after Breast Cancer. In this blog, we’ll outline how and why more and more providers are incorporating massage therapy into treatment plans for breast cancer patients.

Massage therapy, when offered as a treatment for patients with breast cancer, is often a complementary treatment offered in combination with other forms of treatment. Massage therapy has been shown to effectively provide relief in the following ways:

Helps to reduce cancer-related pain.
Massage therapy promotes the release of endorphins which can effectively help reduce pain and inflammation in the body.
Helps to alleviate fatigue and improve sleep patterns.
Patients with breast cancer may experience not only pain, but difficulty sleeping due to pain and anxiety. Massage therapy, while promoting pain relief can also address sleep issues associated with breast cancer, making patients more comfortable and improving sleep patterns, which in turn helps with fatigue.
Helps to reduce anxiety and stress in patients with breast cancer.
Receiving a breast cancer diagnosis in itself is stress-inducing, paired with pain and anxiety, can lead to an unhealthy outlook and difficulty concentrating, sometimes even depression. By pairing massage therapy with other treatment methods, patients can help address the different symptoms that are experienced with breast cancer.
Improves quality of life.
Massage therapy can provide several forms of relief in patients with breast cancer, as listed above. While the effects can be physical, it can also drastically improve the quality of life by providing a positive treatment into a diagnosis that can feel overwhelming.

There are several different types of massage therapy, including Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue Therapy and Sports Massage. Your doctor can recommend which form of massage therapy can be most beneficial to you and work alongside your current cancer treatment plan. For more information about massage therapy in breast cancer patients, or for an appointment, please call Sarrica PT and Wellness at 347-560-6920.