How Massage Can Help People with Autoimmune Diseases
Published November 14th 2021
The immune system is your protection against viruses and bacteria that can cause diseases. If this system detects a foreign invader in your body, it will send out cells to attack them, and protect you. Sometimes, however, your body turns against you and mistakes other parts of it as foreign invaders. When this happens, your immune system sends out cells to attack your own body tissues. This occurrence is known as autoimmune disease.
Some of the common autoimmune diseases include:
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Pulmonary fibrosis
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Polymyositis
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Systemic lupus erythematosus
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Type 1 diabetes
These diseases target single areas in your body and there are others that will target multiple organs or even your whole body. When this happens to your body there are treatments and medications to treat the autoimmune disease, but massage therapy will help with pain relief symptoms associated with these diseases. Massage therapy can also help with the effectiveness of the medications prescribed as treatment.
Massage Therapy and Pain Relief From Autoimmune Disease Symptoms
Those suffering from an autoimmune disease will experience a lot of pain. This pain can range from mild to severe depending on the condition being experienced. If you suffer from an autoimmune disease, you may find that chronic pain is hard to deal with. Even some of the strongest medications will have little to no effect on the pain. There are, however, alternatives for you to manage and attain pain relief.
An increasingly popular option being used to manage pain from autoimmune diseases is massage therapy. Studies have proven those with autoimmune diseases have found a reduction in their pain, depression, anxiety, and stress when they seek massage therapy.
Not all massage therapies are effective for pain relief from an autoimmune disease. Talk to your therapist at Fluidity Balance and your doctor to learn which therapy will work best for your condition. These are some of the different massage options that can work to reduce your pain.
1. Fascia-Focused Massage
The Fascia-Focused massage is meant to fix the imbalance on your fascia. The fascia is a web of tissues connecting all parts of your body. A fascia-focused massage could be the Myofascial release technique that will focus on restoring the balance in your body by performing fascial pulls. This form of massage could also be the rolfing type which is a deep tissue massage to realign your posture and help with spine-related autoimmune diseases.
2. Muscle-Focused Massage
The Muscle-Focused massage is one of the traditional massage treatments and includes the Swedish Massage. The benefit of the muscle-focused massage is to provide relaxation and alleviate pain caused by autoimmune diseases.
With a muscle-focused massage, you receive a massage to relax your tension through the kneading of your muscles with long, gliding strokes. Other muscle-focused massages target trigger points on certain parts of your body to release tension throughout various pain zones in your body.
Some therapists will use their forearms and elbows to provide a deep tissue massage. These techniques will apply more pressure to the muscles and help relax them. Another muscle-focused massage is with the use of hot stones to provide pain relief through heat therapy.
3. Lymph-Focused Massage
Your lymphatic system detoxifies your body so it functions effectively. Sometimes those suffering from autoimmune diseases find it difficult to detoxify themselves because the lymphatic system's abilities have been impaired.
When the lymphatic system is impaired, a lymph drainage treatment can help. This treatment will keep your lymphatic fluid pumping. The lymph-focus massage and other types of massages are different in that the lymph-focused therapy can be light when compared to the deep tissue massage of the Swedish Massage.
The Lymph-Focused massage is a light touch but is quite potent. This massage will provide you with tension-releasing and relaxing effects as it boosts your body's detoxification abilities.
Where to Learn More About Massage Therapy for Autoimmune Diseases
Fluidity Balance can help your mind and body work together. Through our expert massage therapies, we will minimize the impact of any imbalance with your lymphatic system. Our signature hand techniques will help you find pain relief from anything life has handed out to you. Talk to us today about how you can start living life pain-free and relaxed.