Contraindications: Chronic Pain
Deep tissue massage will
provide the best results with chronic pain clients, but it also has a greater
risk of bringing harm to the client. If
a client is extremely fatigued, has a fever, is unable to relax, or is highly stressed,
then deep tissue is not indicated. An
hour of light, tender massage would we more appropriate under these
circumstances.
In conditions such as
multiple sclerosis and auto-immune diseases such as lupus, scleroderma,
rheumatoid arthritis, etc., deep massage can trigger an exacerbation such as a
severe flare-up of symptoms manifesting as disability or pain. An exacerbation can last days to weeks and
can be triggered by the shock of deep massage on an extremely sensitive, highly
reactive condition.
Also, see Fibromyalgia for more
information on this chronic pain disorder.
See Chronic Pain Self-Care Tips for more
information on how to treat this condition. Find out how the mind plays an important role in your body's well-being by exploring these linked pages.