Can I still get massage after breast cancer surgery? What should I do if lymphedema recurs? Therapist reveals 3 major landmines of massage
Lymphedema repeatedly affects normal life due to unintentional rehabilitation after breast cancer surgery
The number of new cases of breast cancer is increasing every year. Post-surgery rehabilitation is not only related to physical activities. Without good cancer rehabilitation, it may also prevent cancer patients from engaging in various interest activities, and their quality of life will be greatly affected. Sammi underwent breast cancer treatment 5 years ago. Not only did her arms often become sore and swollen after the surgery, she would even wake up in pain in the middle of the night, resulting in poor sleep quality. Her thick and swollen arms made her unintentional to recover for a time, and her lymphedema recurred. She loved to experience it in the past. I don’t dare to try the massage again.
Breast cancer patients like Sammi hope that their lymphedema-swollen arms can be massaged. The first step is to assess the risk from the most conservative rehabilitation department diagnosis and treatment. After confirming that the lymphedema-swollen arms are free of infection, blood clots and other massage contraindications, they are encouraged to receive massage for a period of time. “Integrated detumescence and rehabilitation” reduces the burden on the lymphatic system.
Excess lymph fluid was drained through lymphatic drainage, and suitable pressure sleeve gloves were used to maintain a stable swelling reduction effect. After three weeks, the swelling in Sammi’s arm was successfully reduced by 1 cm.
Cancer patients learn self-lymphatic drainage after surgery and successfully regain their preference for massage
At the same time, the therapist also taught Sammi to perform self-lymphatic drainage for her arms, which she would do every day after bathing and while lying down before going to bed. This not only reduced swelling but also alleviated nighttime soreness. The therapist also screened the spa treatments that Sammi was interested in, avoiding hot compress, steam, scraping and other services. He also assisted her in coordinating and communicating lymphedema precautions with the massage operators. Finally, Sammi was able to re-experience the spa massage that she had not had for many years, not only with her hands. There was no swelling, inflammation, pain or other problems.
For Sammi, after a long and arduous journey of rehabilitation, she was finally able to regain the SPA massage that ordinary people can have, which made her more determined to follow the progress of rehabilitation and get rid of the life of breast cancer where she was afraid of massage.
Most people lack awareness of the importance of rehabilitation after breast cancer surgery, or do not seek a rehabilitation plan that suits them. They are prone to stay away from various daily activities due to lymphedema after surgery. In fact, by learning how to deal with lymphedema, you can help cancer patients improve arm soreness and pain, and greatly improve their quality of life.
Can I get massage for lymphedema? Upper and lower limb massage methods
Usually lymphedema is only a local symptom, not a systemic problem. Therefore, avoiding the scope of lymphedema, other body parts can still be massaged, such as:
• Lymphedema of the upper limbs: massage of the head, waist, legs, unaffected arm, shoulder and neck can be performed.
• Lymphedema of the lower limbs: You can perform massage on the upper body such as the waist and back. It is recommended to avoid the area below the buttocks. However, if you have lymphedema on one leg, you can ask the rehabilitation team to determine whether the unaffected leg can be massaged.
In addition, we would like to remind patients who have undergone pelvic lymph node dissection or surgery for genitourinary system cancer that even if you may have lymphedema in one leg, the lymphatic circulation path of both legs may be damaged, so it is not recommended to receive massage on both legs.
What actions should be avoided to stimulate lymphedema?
Lymphedema may actually become more swollen due to factors such as heat, force, skin irritation, etc. Therefore, please remind your masseur to avoid the following details during the treatment:
• Heating-related measures: Avoid using hot compresses, steam, hot water baths on the affected area…
• Do not do vigorous massage: You can use oil to do long push and sliding massage, avoid acupressure, tapping, gravity massage…
• Do not cause skin irritation during the application process: avoid scraping, cupping, knife therapy, exfoliation… and other techniques
In fact, one of the rehabilitation techniques for post-cancer lymphedema, Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD), is a technique that is very suitable for use on the affected area. Since it only has the touch of stretching the skin, it can also be integrated with aromatherapist treatments. Stress Relief Technology.
Can I use essential oils or massage oils with lymphedema massage?
Since the dermis layer of the skin contains the most superficial lymphatic vessels, the skin in lymphedema-affected areas must be well protected so that the lymphatic system can maintain its operation in the most comfortable state.
Therefore, when choosing massage oil, please try to give priority to products with the simplest ingredients. For example, pure vegetable oil is ideal. If the massage oil contains active ingredients such as essential oils, please first confirm that it will not cause allergies.
Lymphedema can be overcome; breast cancer patients should learn about cancer rehabilitation
March every year is “Lymphedema Awareness Month”, and lymphedema is one of the common sequelae of cancer patients. We encourage “sufferers” who suffer from edema after cancer to detoxify through good and comprehensive integration. Rehabilitation and overcoming things that you could not do before.
However, I would like to remind everyone with swelling that “massage” is only for stress relief and is not an official treatment method for lymphedema, so swelling is still possible. For example, Sammi, who experienced upper limb lymphedema after breast cancer, underwent full rehabilitation and education, understood the benefits and risks of massage, learned complete self-care methods, and received professional evaluation from a therapist before she could perform massage. As long as they adopt good cancer rehabilitation, all patients with cancer can, like Sammi, work with their therapists to plan a rehabilitation plan to regain interest in life and enjoy life after surgery.
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