For many, lupus can be a very painful disease to have. Depending on the severity, lupus may even disrupt a person's life and leave them unable to perform everyday things that most people take for granted. Despite all of the medical advances made in the last quarter century, there still isn't one medicine that can completely treat lupus.
However, there is lupus massage therapy, a very highly effective way of making lupus easier to live with. Not sure how massage therapy is beneficial to people who have lupus? You'll learn more here.
What is Lupus?
Before we can delve into the benefits of lupus massage therapy, we must first discuss what lupus is. In basic terms, lupus is an autoimmune system disease. It chronically affects people.
Someone who has lupus may have inflammation, pain, and tissue damage throughout their body. That's because lupus attacks the body's own tissues as if they're foreign substances. A person who has serious lupus may have problems with their heart, lungs, or blood cells.
There are five types of lupus, each with differing symptoms and severity. These are systemic, discoid/cutaneous, subacute cutaneous, drug-induced systemic, and neonatal.
Massage Therapy: The Answer?
You may already be well aware of how much massage therapy can help many different kinds of people from different walks of life and with different health problems.
Athletes get massage therapy to help them recover from playing, everyday people get help with back pain by having a massage, others use massage therapy as a way of improving the symptoms of arthritis or an injured body part.
So is massage therapy a good idea for lupus? That's something that massage therapists and doctors alike are asked often because of the buzz surrounding different lupus treatments. It's a question that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. It warrants more of a discussion.
What Massage Therapy Does
Massage therapy increases the blood flow in the body. The massage therapist who is giving the massage rubs the tendons and muscles, thus stimulating them. Stimulated muscles allow more blood to flow throughout the body.
This reduces the amount of inflammation and soreness experienced, so a person who has had a massage feels refreshed. They are able to move around and not experience as much pain in doing so.
Massage Therapy for Lupus
So having said all of this, is massage therapy for lupus a good idea? Well, let's think of it like this: lupus is a disease and one of the common symptoms is inflammation. Someone who has inflammation because of lupus is typically very sore all the time and does not feel like getting up and going about everyday life. Massage therapy can reduce the amount of inflammation a person has, thereby cutting down on the amount of pain experienced.
Thus, it's logical to say that massage therapy is beneficial for lupus patients. In fact, those who have massage therapy and use it to help manage lupus usually do experience less inflammation and pain than those who do not receive massage therapy. Those who have lupus would be wise to at least try massage therapy as it can make a big difference.
Disclaimer: The previous information is not intended as medical advice. Always consult a physician.