What does it mean when Lymph Nodes are swollen? Can Massage Therapy Help?

Swollen lymph nodes facts

• Lymph nodes, also referred to as lymph glands, are important part of the immune system.
• Lymph nodes are located throughout the body, but visible and palpable only when they are enlarged or swollen.
• Lymph nodes are regional, and each group of them corresponds to a particular region of the body and reflects abnormalities in that region. Common areas where swollen lymph nodes are more prominent and therefore more readily noticeable are behind the ear, in the neck, the groin, under the chin and in the armpits.
• These are also usually the areas your doctor will check for lymph node enlargement.
• In general, infections are the most common causes of lymph node enlargement. Other causes include inflammation and cancers. There is a wide variety of infections from a strep throat or ear infection, to mononucleosis or HIV infection, which can cause swelling of lymph nodes.
• Lymphoma and leukemia cause swelling of lymph nodes, and many cancers spread to lymph nodes.
• Rarely, a medication can cause swelling of a lymph node.
• Symptoms associated with lymph node swelling and related diseases can include pain in the area of the swelling, fever and fatigue.
• Not all swollen lymph nodes are abnormal.  

Want to learn more? Continue Reading

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Once you've been checked out by a physician, ask them about receiving Lympathic Massage.

The Benefits of Lymphatic Massage

Discover How To Boost Energy and Immunity

Six months after hip replacement surgery, Larry was learning to walk again and life was returning to normal. But one thing still puzzled him. When he stood for any length of time, his left ankle would swell, and when the inflammation was at its worst, his right ankle would also swell.

"I can understand why my left leg is swollen," he says. "But why would my right leg swell? I didn't have surgery there. And why am I getting swelling six months after the surgery? Shouldn't it be better by now?" The answer is that although Larry's surgery had occurred on the opposite side, the right leg would swell when the inflammation became too much for the left side to handle.

Fortunately, lymphatic massage can help address Larry's problems. This special type of bodywork, while very gentle and seemingly superficial, helps to restore function to the lymph system and balance the body.

The Lymph System
Most people are familiar with the body's vessel system that carries blood to and from the tissues, but few understand there is another equally vital system of vessels that removes cell wastes, proteins, excess fluid, viruses, and bacteria. The lymph system picks up fluids and waste products from the spaces between the cells and then filters and cleans them.

Like the roots of a tree, the lymph system starts as tiny vessels--only a single-cell wide--that eventually branch into larger and larger tubes that carry these fluids back to the blood stream. This network of delicate vessels and lymph nodes is the primary structure of the immune system. The lymph nodes act as check points along the pathways of the vessels. They filter the fluid (called lymph) and serve as the home for lymphocytes--little Pac Man-like cells that attack and destroy foreign bacteria and viruses and even abnormal cells, like cancer cells.

When the lymph system works well, we feel healthy and have a strong defense against illness. When it's sluggish or blocked--say after surgery or an injury--we can have swelling, feel tired, and be more susceptible to colds and infections.

Lymphatic Massage
A customized form of bodywork, lymphatic massage may help the lymph system do its job better. By understanding the anatomy and function of this delicate system, your massage therapist can assist your body in clearing sluggish tissues of waste and swelling. 

Though lymph vessels are found throughout the body, most of them--about 70 percent--are located just below the skin. These fragile vessels work to pick up fluids between the cell spaces when gentle pressure is applied to them from increased fluid build-up, muscle contractions, or the pressure of a therapist's hands. By using very light pressures in a rhythmic, circular motion, a massage therapist can stimulate the lymph system to work more efficiently and help it move the lymph fluids back to the heart.

Furthermore, by freeing vessel pathways, lymphatic massage can help retrain the lymph system to work better for more long-term health benefits.

Massage therapists versed in lymphatic drainage therapy, an advanced form of lymphatic massage, can identify the rhythm, direction, and quality of the lymphatic flow and remap drainage pathways. 

Who Should Get It?
Lymph massage can benefit just about everyone. If you're feeling tired and low on energy, or if you've been sick and feeling like your body is fighting to get back on track, lymph massage would likely serve you well. 

In addition, athletes, surgical patients, fibromyaliga and chronic fatigue sufferers, as well as those wanting a fresh look may want to consider lymphatic massage. Here's why.

After a sports injury or surgery, lymph vessels can become overwhelmed with the demand placed on them. When tissues are swollen, deep tissue techniques may actually cause damage to the lymph vessels and surrounding structures. Lymphatic massage is often the treatment of choice, because it helps the body remove proteins and waste products from the affected area and reduce the swelling. This helps reduce pressure on cells and allows them to reproduce faster to heal the body.

Surgical procedures involving lymph node removal--such as breast cancer surgery--can cause limbs to swell. Severe limb swelling needs the attention of a medical team, but in milder cases, lymphatic massage alone may be enough to prevent or even treat the swelling. It's important that your doctor be involved in your care. Let your doctor know you'd like to see a massage therapist and make sure you have medical approval. 

Lymph massage can also be part of a care program for fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Because it's so gentle, it is well tolerated by these patients, who are often experiencing sore trigger points throughout the body. And by encouraging lymph flow and removing waste products, this gentle form of bodywork can help restore immune function and improve vitality.

Estheticians are trained in a very specific form of lymphatic massage. When you get a facial, your esthetician will gently massage your face to help improve lymph flow. When lymph is moving freely in the face, you'll have clearer, healthier skin without a buildup of toxins and fluids.

So, if you're feeling a bit sluggish, experiencing mild to moderate swelling, recovering from a sports injury, or interested in optimizing your lymph system for stronger immunity, ask your massage therapist about lymphatic massage. It can have a powerful impact on your body's ability to heal. 

This article originally appeared on massagetherapy.com and was written by Cathy Ulrich.

If We Can't Stretch Fascia, What Are We Doing?

When Ida Rolf (developer of the profound therapy, Rolfing) began putting her hands and elbows on people’s skin and applying pressure, creating a slow, sustained stretch, she imagined that she was stretching fascial sheets. Generations of manual therapists have followed her thinking, accepting this explanation to account for the changes felt in tissue tension beneath their hands and the sensations experienced by those who receive this type of therapy.

Ideas change over time

Much of manual therapy has grown largely out of anecdotal experience and tradition. Without the means to directly observe or measure what happened inside of the body, explanations for results had to be created from the “outside” and have largely been guesswork. As manual therapy has moved forward, an interest in understanding exactly how touch affects the body has led to a growing interest in research. With research has come the realization that many explanations of the past are not supported by evidence and are sometimes contradicted by evidence. Science-minded manual therapists have learned to adapt to this information, dropping outdated hypotheses and unsupported claims. While some have found it disconcerting to have cherished notions disproved, others have embraced knowledge and have adapted their conceptual models to fit what is known. They may continue to use modalities that have produced desired results but their understanding of how that comes about changes to fit the evidence.

Such a change is happening in the field of “fascial” therapy. 

When Rolf began her groundbreaking work in manual therapy, she devised a hypothesis in an attempt to explain how changes created by her contact came about. However, in recent years, evidence has challenged those explanations. Robert Schleip, Ph.D., was one of the key organizers of the first Fascia Research Congress and is a highly respected researcher. He is credited with discovering minute contractile fibers in fascia, a discovery whose clinical relevance has not yet been demonstrated but still excited many in the world of fascial therapy just the same. In his two-part article, “Fascial Plasticity: a new neurobiological explanation,” published in 2003 in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, Schleip points to studies which contradict the notion that we can change the shape of fascia with our hands. One study found that collagen fibers would only begin to stretch shortly before they reached the breaking point, something that would not be desirable in a living human being. In other studies, Schleip, Trager, and others have done Rolfing under anesthesia and found that it produced no results. If the application of manual pressure had the ability to stretch fascia, there should have been a change in spite of anesthesia blocking any neural response. Why, then, was there no change when anesthesia took the nervous system out of the picture?

A neurobiological explanation

If we aren’t stretching fascia, then how do we account for the “release” felt by both the practitioner and the subject? Schleip and others have suggested that the change in tonus is not achieved by an alteration in the shape of fascia but is instead controlled by the nervous system. Schleip suggests that one possible mechanism of change brought about by sustained manual pressure could be the Ruffini corpuscles.

Why Ruffini corpuscles? Clinically, we observe that applying a slow, extended stretch to the skin can create desirable changes both locally and centrally, decreasing tension in the area where the hands are applied as well as creating an overall sense of relaxation. Ruffini corpuscles respond to lateral skin stretch, that is, stretching the skin tangentially or along the same plane as the tissue below. They are slow-adapting, meaning that they continue firing for as long as the stretch is sustained, unlike some mechanoreceptors which respond briefly to new stimulation and then stop responding if it continues.

We know that when we apply our hands to the skin of the body, we stimulate mechanoreceptors. Impulses are sent through the sensory nerves to the brain. The brain evaluates and responds, sending out impulses of its own through nerves to various parts of the body, causing changes to occur in the diameter of blood vessels, breathing, muscle tonus. If it likes our touch, it can create the changes we associate with relaxation, release of tension, and can decrease the sensation of pain. If it feels threatened by our touch, it will do the opposite. As manual therapists, we are always trying to create changes that make the body feel at ease. We can achieve this through the nervous system.

The nervous system is constantly monitoring its environment, responding to a complex array of input. It would be naive and simplistic to think that response to our touch could be reduced to one set of mechanoreceptors or to ignore all the other countless factors. However, when examining the kind of manual therapy we have come to think of as "fascial," understanding the role of Ruffini corpuscles is a good place to start.

Why does it matter?

Does it matter whether we believe we are stretching fascia or not? It matters that we think accurate thoughts about how the body works and what effect our touch has on the body. Understanding how the body actually works will help us work more effectively.

We may still use our hands in ways that we have before. If those methods work to achieve the client's goal, there is no need to abandon them. However, we want to know that how we think about what we are doing is accurate and we want to be able to communicate honestly with our clients. If we discover that our conceptual model is contradicted by what is known about how the body works, then it is time to adapt our model so that our thinking is in agreement with evidence.

Manual therapists need not feel threatened by the news that we cannot stretch fascia. A growing number of Rolfers, practitioners of myofascial release, and related modalities are continuing to use their hands in the ways that have worked for them in the past while adapting their thinking to an updated neurobiological explanation. Many have found that this shift to thinking about the role of the nervous system in manual therapy has led to new, even more effective approaches.
 

A thought experiment

Schleip proposes an interesting thought experiment. During the time it took to read this article, one’s bottom, if seated, is subjected to more pressure over a longer period of time than most therapists will apply to the hips of a client. Yet most of us are not all stretched out and droopy from daily sitting for extended periods of time. Think about it.

This article originally appeared on www.massage-stlouis.com and was written by Alice Sanvito, LMT

Massage & Depression

We've all had days where we feel sad or blue. Nobody can be happy all of the time, and changes in mood, feelings of sadness sometimes, are perfectly normal. For some people, however, these feelings are more persistent and severe, interfering with everyday activities, lowering energy levels and interrupting sleep, for example. When these feelings begin to take over and noticeably change a person’s quality of life, seeing a mental health professional—and getting a depression diagnosis—can be the first step in getting the help they need.

For many who suffer, the solution most talked about is psychotherapy, where a person sees a trained mental health professional to talk (and perhaps be prescribed medication). But that approach doesn’t always work equally well for everyone. Now, people are also beginning to better understand how a combination of treatment options can be beneficial, and massage therapy is showing some promise in helping people better handle this condition.

Defining Depression

Perhaps one of the most difficult things about depression when talking about ways to help people who suffer is that arriving at a simple, straightforward definition of depression is next to impossible. Depression, unlike some other medical conditions, is seemingly fluid in nature, meaning the cause(s) and how symptoms manifest are often unique to the individual and can be a secondary complaint of another primary health condition, such as Alzheimer’s, for example, or other mental health issues. In other words, my depression isn’t your depression isn’t someone else’s depression.

That’s not to suggest, however, that there aren’t guidelines around diagnosing depression. Some people might think that depression is simply someone who is sad, but there’s a lot more to this condition than simply feeling down. Yes, sadness and unhappiness are definitely indicators of depression but, according to the Mayo Clinic, so are anger and irritability, loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyable, sleep disturbances, changes in appetite, cognitive problems, as well as physical pain, such as back pain or headaches.

There can also be different types of depression. For example, some women experience depression both during pregnancy and after delivery, while other people may be affected seasonally or have anxiety that accompanies the depression.

The Benefits of Massage

When you ask exactly how massage therapy works to benefit people with depression, the most accurate answer is “we don’t yet know.” But that’s not to say the benefits aren’t real, and some, like Christopher Moyer, PhD and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Stout, posit that massage therapy may work in similar ways as psychotherapy. “The size and effect of massage therapy on trait anxiety and depression is virtually the same as that routinely found in the research studies of psychotherapy for those same conditions,” he explains. “Typically, both take place in a private setting and are based on a ‘50-minute hour’ for the length of the session. Repeated sessions on a weekly schedule—or similar—would be a traditional or common pattern when the goal is long-term reduction of anxiety or depression.”

The other striking similarity is that both are dependent on an interpersonal relationship founded on trust. “Some psychotherapy researchers think that the existence of the trusting relationship—sometimes referred to as the therapeutic bond, or as the working alliance—is the most important component of psychotherapy’s effectiveness,” Moyer says. “And the same may also be true for massage therapy, though this is something that needs to be researched.”

Remember, too, that depression isn’t just mental health issues—some of the symptoms manifest physically, too. “Depression is considered a mental illness, but one feels it in the body as well, a sense of heaviness in the corporeal,” says Alice Sanvito, a massage therapist and owner of Massage-St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. “The physical experience of massage can change the physical sensation of heaviness to something lighter and can restore the feeling of living in one’s body again instead of being lost in one’s head.”

Moyer suggests something similar. “It’s tempting to say that yes, psychotherapy ought to have the greater potential to help because it ought to provide the person with skills and insight that reduce anxiety and depression, and that help the person avoid them in the future,” he explains. “And who is to say that massage therapy doesn’t do something similar to that? It’s possible that receiving massage therapy gives a person a kind of insight, in that it reeducates the person as to how their body and mind ought to feel when they are relaxed, healthy, less anxious and less depressed.”

There’s also the potential that—similar to chronic pain—some of the value of massage therapy for people with depression comes from interrupting the pattern of symptoms on a regular basis. “Each time one interrupts the pattern and experiences calm, it’s easier to remember what it’s like to live in a more normal state, gives one hope that it is possible,” Sanvito suggests.

The problem, however, is defining what regular means. Although research seems to suggest that more than one massage therapy session is more beneficial for people dealing with depression, beyond that, the information available gets fuzzier. “We do not yet have clear information on how many sessions of massage therapy, or in what pattern or frequency, are optimal or necessary,” Moyer explains. “Weekly sessions would be a good place to start. Then, depending on the response to treatment, that schedule could be adjusted as deemed necessary.

What You Need to Know

The constant in all of this is that there is no constant, meaning that massage therapists working with clients who suffer from depression need to educate themselves about the condition. In fact, Moyer believes all massage therapists should have some familiarity with both anxiety and depressive disorders because both are so common today.

Assess. Although an argument could be made that things are changing—you see more commercials dealing with mental health conditions, for example—the reality for many of these people is that mental health issues may carry a stigma. So, massage therapists can’t assume that clients who might be suffering from depression are going to offer this information up themselves. Some people, too, might not be aware they’re suffering from this disorder, so being aware of how depression can affect a person—as well as what some of the major symptoms are—may be helpful.

Obviously, you need to stay within your scope of practice, but that doesn’t mean you can’t—orshouldn’t—look for indications that current and potential clients might be dealing with depression.

Intake. Going hand in hand with assessment are your intake policies. Again, some clients aren’t going to tell you they are being treated for depression, so being proactive about asking them is a good idea. Similar to how you ask for other health information during the intake process, you can ask clients if they’ve been feeling anxious or depressed. Or, add questions about feelings of depression to the intake form clients complete before a massage session.

As with assessment, you need to make sure you are staying within your scope of practice. “When I suggest that massage therapists should inquire about anxiety and depression as part of intake assessment, I am not suggesting that they change their practice or conduct themselves more like a social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist,” says Moyer. “Rather, I am highlighting how intake assessment is an unrivaled opportunity to gather information that can be helpful to clients.”

Be realistic. You also need to understand what massage therapy both can and cannot offer. Particularly if you have clients who are specifically seeing you for help dealing with depression, you need to be realistic about results. “Massage is not a magic bullet to relieve depression,” Sanvito says, “but having a temporary break in the sense of physical and emotional heaviness one feels is a great relief.”

The key here is to remember that these clients are most likely seeing other health care professionals for treatment, and so massage therapy is one approach your clients might be using to handle the symptoms of this disorder. “It should also be noted that massage therapy should not be used as a stand-alone treatment in serious cases, at least not at present,” Moyer cautions. “Medication and psychotherapy both have a much larger and stronger evidence base supporting their effectiveness. For serious cases, massage therapy should probably only be used as an additional treatment.”

Keep current on research. Although definitive research on how massage therapy works for clients who are dealing with depression is limited, staying current on what is available is imperative. Remember, too, that although we might not know exactly how massage therapy works, there are some strong studies available today that illustrate massage therapy can be useful in helping reduce feelings of depression.

Related: Research Roundup on Massage & Mental Health

Network with mental health professionals. In order to effectively work with clients who are suffering from depression, being networked to other health care professionals they may see for treatment is a good idea. “Such interprofessional relationships allow clients to be referred when needed, and also open up the possibility for coordinated care,” explains Moyer. “It is an exciting possibility that anxiety and depression might be able to be treated most effectively, at least in some cases, when a client is receiving psychotherapy from a mental health expert and also receiving massage therapy from a massage therapist.”

When looking to build relationships with mental health professionals, remember that you need to be armed with up-to-date information on the ways in which massage therapy can benefit their patients, as well as have a basic understanding of depression. Again, a solid understanding of research is going to be imperative, and don’t let the limited number of studies on the subject deter you from reaching out. “I suspect there are many mental health professionals who would welcome the opportunity to learn more about the effectiveness of massage therapy,” Moyer says, “and to have another treatment option for their patients to add to other well-established treatments.”

As we continue to learn more about depression, the ways in which this condition can be treated are also expanding—and massage therapy is showing some real promise in being a good addition to the already existing treatment options.

This article originally appeared on amtamassage.org and was written by Michelle Valet.

Headaches: Causes, Diagnosis and Treatments

Headaches are one of the most common complaints, and most people experience them at some point in their life. They can affect anyone regardless of age, race, and gender.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that almost half of all adults worldwide will have experienced a headache within the last year.

A headache can be a sign of stress or emotional distress, or it can result from a medical disorder, such as migraine or high blood pressure, anxiety or depression. It can lead to other problems. People with chronic migraine headaches, for example, may find it hard to attend work or school regularly.

Migraines, cluster headaches, and hangovers are some of the causes of headaches.

Contents of this article:

1. What causes a headache?
2. Types of headache
3. Diagnosis
4. Treatment

What causes a headache?

Headache is a common complaint worldwide.

A headache can occur in any part of the head, on both sides of the head, or just in one location.

A headaches can radiate across the head from a central point or have a vise-like quality. They can be sharp, throbbing or dull, appear gradually or suddenly. They can last from less than an hour up to several days.

There are different ways to define headaches. The International Headache Society (IHS) categorize headaches as primary, when they are not caused by another condition, or secondary, when there is a further underlying cause.

Primary headaches

Primary headaches are stand-alone illnesses caused directly by the overactivity of, or problems with, structures in the head that are pain-sensitive.

This includes the blood vessels, muscles, and nerves of the head and neck. They may also result from changes in chemical activity in the brain.

Common primary headaches include migraines, cluster headaches, and tension headaches.

Secondary headaches

Secondary headaches are symptoms that happen when another condition stimulates the pain-sensitive nerves of the head.

A wide range of different conditions can cause secondary headaches.

These include:

Eating something very cold can lead to a "brain freeze."

• An alcohol-induced hangover
• Brain tumor
• Blood clots
• "Brain freeze," or ice-cream headaches
• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Concussion
• Dehydration
• Glaucoma
• Influenza
• Overuse of pain medication, known as rebound headaches
• Panic attacks
• Stroke

As headaches can be a symptom of a serious condition, it is important to seek medical advice if they become more severe, regular, or persistent.

For example, if the headache is more painful and disruptive than previous headaches, worsens, or fails to improve with medication or is accompanied by other symptoms such as confusion, fever, sensory changes, and stiffness in the neck, a doctor should be contacted immediately.

Types of headache

The symptoms of a headache can depend on the type.

Tension-type headaches

Tension-type headaches are a common form of primary headache.

The person can feel as if they have a tight band around the head, with a constant, dull ache on both sides. The pain may spread to or from the neck. Such headaches normally begin slowly and gradually in the middle of the day.

Tension-type headaches can be either episodic or chronic. Episodic attacks are normally a few hours in duration, but can last for several days. Chronic headaches occur for 15 or more days a month for a period of at least 3 months.

Migraines

Migraine is the second most common form of primary headache and can have a major impact on the life of an individual. According to the WHO, migraine is the sixth highest cause of days lost due to disability worldwide. A migraine can last from a few hours to between 2 and 3 days.

A migraine headache may cause a pulsating, throbbing pain on one or both sides of the head. The aching may be accompanied by blurred vision, light-headedness, nausea, and sensory disturbances.

Rebound headaches

Rebound or medication-overuse headaches are the most common secondary headache.

They stem from an excessive use of medication to treat headache symptoms. They usually begin early in the day and persist throughout the day. They may improve with pain medication, but worsen when its effects wear off.

Rebound headaches can cause a range of symptoms, and the pain can be different each day. Along with the headache itself, rebound headaches can cause neck pain, restlessness, a feeling of nasal congestion, and reduced sleep quality.

Cluster headaches

Cluster headaches are a less common form of primary headache. They strike quickly, one or more times daily around the same time each day and often without warning.

They usually last between 15 minutes and 3 hours, and they persist for the duration of what is known as a cluster period, which normally lasts 6 to 12 weeks.

The pain caused by cluster headaches is severe, often described as sharp or burning, and it is normally located in or around one eye.

The affected area may become red and swollen, the eyelid may droop and the nasal passage on the affected side may become stuffy and runny.

Diagnosis

A doctor will usually be able to diagnose a particular type of headache through a description of the condition, the type of pain and the timing and pattern of attacks.

It may be a good idea to keep a diary detailing the symptoms of regular headaches and any possible triggers. This can help both the patient and the doctor in identifying the exact nature and possible cause of the headaches.

If the nature of the headache appears to be complex, tests may be carried out to eliminate more serious causes.

Further testing could include blood tests, X-rays, and brain scans, such as CT and MRI.

Treatment

The most common ways of treating headaches are rest and pain relief medication.

Generic pain relief medication is available over the counter (OTC), or doctors can prescribe preventative medication, such as tricyclic antidepressants, anti-epileptic drugs, and beta blockers.

It is important to follow the doctor's advice because overusing pain relief medication can lead to rebound headaches.

The treatment of rebound headaches involves the reducing or stopping pain relief medication.

In extreme cases, a short hospital stay may be needed to manage withdrawal safely and effectively.

Self-care

A number of steps can be taken to reduce the risk of headaches and to ease the pain if they do occur:

• Apply a heat pack or ice pack to your head or neck, but avoid extreme temperatures
• Avoid stressors, where possible, and develop healthy coping strategies for unavoidable stress
• Eat regular meals, taking care to maintain stable blood sugar

A hot shower can help, although in one rare condition hot water exposure can trigger headaches.

Exercising regularly and getting enough rest and regular sleep contribute to overall health and stress reduction.

Several alternative forms of treatment for headaches are also available, but it is important to consult a doctor before making any major changes or beginning any alternative forms of treatment.

Acupuncture is an alternative therapy that may help relieve headaches.

Alternative approaches include:

• Acupuncture
• Cognitive behavior therapy
• Herbal and nutritional health products
• Hypnosis
• Meditation

(Research: Acupuncture and Migraine)

Sometimes, a headache may result from a deficiency of a particular nutrient or nutrients, especially magnesium and certain B vitamins.

Nutrient deficiencies can be due to a poor quality diet, underlying malabsorption issues, or other medical conditions.

Anyone with a suspected nutrient deficiency should work with a qualified health professional to diagnose and correct the deficiency in a sustainable and holistic way, rather than relying on an isolated supplement.

The WHO points out that headaches are often not taken seriously because they are sporadic, most headaches do not lead to death, and they are not contagious.

They call for more resources to be allocated for the treatment of headache disorders, because of the huge health burden they represent.

This article originally appeared on medicalnewstoday.com Written by James McIntosh