High Blood Pressure & Massage
I went to make an appointment today for lymphatic drainage massage and, more as an afterthought, enquired about whether it would affect my having high blood pressure. (I was concerned about feeling whoozy afterwards as I once was with acupuncture). I'm glad I asked! I learnt that massage is not advisable for those who have high blood pressure.
Just to be sure I googled search and found lots of confirmation on this - here is one such source http://www.integrative-healthcare.or...ension_ma.html |
I'm a massage therapist and I've NEVER heard of this. I attended the number 1 school in the US for massage therapy and we are taught that massage is good for high blood pressure, as it relaxes your nervous system and lowers your blood pressure. May I suggest looking into KYOLIC Garlic odorless capsules for High BP. It's all natural and will immediately lower your blood pressure.
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From what I gathered from the link, it's saying that high BP is a notable contraindication but it's very effective in lowering blood pressure.
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I would like to quantify this with further info. MLD (manual lymphatic drainage) is safe to proceed with (if you have chronic high blood pressure) pending the O.K from consultation with your GP. Re. garlic and blood pressure. Yes I am familiar with its effect but it is not recommended that medication should be stopped, i.e. as a substitute. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11767440 |
No, I know that high BP is a contraindication. But I've never heard that its not recommended to get a massage because of it, which is what I thought you were stating in your original post...? I know that you should get approval from the clients physician before proceeding.
Right you shouldn't stop your high BP medicine but garlic is an all natural way of treating the high BP and can be supplemented in with the medication and with doctors help you can start to come off the medication and use only garlic. If that's something you're interested in. If not, that's absolutely fine. :) just didn't know if you knew the benefits of garlic, alot of people I come across do not. |
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Yes I really like garlic. I will look into the feasibility of coming off the medication (which I loathe taking) and taking the garlic supplement....not optimistic though - orthodox medicine has a low view of natural therapies (as you probably know). |
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I got some herbal capsules specially for blood pressure, a blend of garlic, olive leaves, lime flowers and hawthorn. At first, we kept her on the doctor's medication, but as her blood pressure dropped (we have an armband to check daily), we gradually reduced the doctor's medication. The result? She is now almost off prescription medicines and taking the herbal capsules three times a day. Her cholesterol levels have dropped, too. Here are two helpful pages about herbal remedies: http://www.naturalnews.com/035689_me..._pressure.html and http://www.nativeremedies.com/articl...-pressure.html Worth a thought? Best wishes to you for good health! |
Thanks LPC but I already know about herbs for HBP. It's a question of at what level of HBP are they effective and what quantity, e.g. 3g cardamom powder sounds a lot! I have always wanted to bypass my doctor's opinion and go down the herbal route (probably via a herbalist) but I can't play around with my health since I am a full time carer.
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The net should provide the answers you seek about dosage. Why not try taking a "light" dose of herbs at first, in addition to your doctor's medication rather than instead of it? But I understand your situation and your apprehension.
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I am very lucky. In the town where I live there is a qualified medical Herbalist who has been in the same practice for 30 years. So if ever I needed any specialist advice I could go to him.
Then there's no worry involved and no researching (with a chance of getting anything wrong) Although I know a bit about herbal medicine I will go to him if needed. He's conventionally medically-trained so knows a lot about prescription drugs, and the do's and don't's of combining prescription/herbs. Is there a medical herbalist in your area you could make an appointment with? |
Thanks Tobi - it has crossed my mind to look into this (since I far favour the natural route) but I guess I can preempt what the GP would say (being a proponent of orthodox medicine). So what you're saying here is that there may be scope to combine herbalism with the medication (i.e. it wouldn't go against the conventions of taking prescribed medication?) and perhaps wean myself off of the tablets?
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Possibly yes. As LPC said, his mother was helped by scaling down prescription medicines at the same time as using herbs, until the herbal medicine was found to work sufficiently.
BUT in my opinion it would be safest to consult a Herbalist and let them sort it out....unless you knew for sure what you were doing. Then you don't have to worry and can rely on their expertise (me being lazy again! LOL!) |
Thanks Tobi - yes, I certainly wouldn't contemplate embarking on such an important matter without the help of a professional herbalist. I will look into this. :wink:
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Hi Amy,
high bp is a contraindication for massage and doctors advice should be sought. The reason for this is that high bp is a symptom of a range of different underlying conditions. So if the high bp is caused solely by stress, then regular massage can help to bring it down. I guess this is where kylie has got the idea from. However, if the high bp is caused by certain heart conditions or blood clots, then massage has the potential to cause harm. Hence why the advice of a doctor should be sought. Any good therapist should know this and practise it. |
Thanks Meadows for clarifying the reasons why there appears to be mixed messages with hpb and massage. I posted this thread once I was told that it was not advisable to have massage with hpb but further investigation (with manual lymph drainage masseurs) revealed it would probably be OK if GP permits. So I guess we have now got this topic covered! :wink:
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For most people you also would benefit from lowering sodium intake and upping potassium intake to the point of having about 4700 mg of potassium or more and 1500 mg of sodium per day or less. This applies to sodium and potassium chloride, not to things like sodium bicarbonate (such as baking soda). Too much sugar is also very bad. Saturated fats are also bad. And as pretty much always, a BMI of under 25 and a good amount of exercise are very helpful. Resistance training such as lifting weights helps to make the blood vessels larger which will reduce the blood pressure as well as they can carry more blood with less pressure.
I wouldn't advise deep tissue massage, but a good relaxing massage should be fine. |
I agree with Mayflow, a gentle massage is very therapeutic, and would be very good for anyone with HBP, I would use a nice lavender oil, with some soft music.
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I have blood pressure issues, and massage hasn't had any negative effect...just because its written on google doesn't mean its factual.....there is so much contradictory information for the same topics on google,(especially medical type information) one couldnt rely on it but only use it as a tool.....
i trust my therapists to be educated in what they're doing otherwise they wouldn't have the certificates that they have after so much education in their chosen field(well hopefully they can get it right most of the time)... .And another thing, doctors don't always 'know'the answers for all, and will tell you to go ahead with stuff, which could be quite detrimental to you......they're only as good as what they're trained in or can be bothered with......Ive had some bad advice from doctors in the past ( e.g., my GP told me a skin irritation was nothing to worry about, so i had it checked by another doctor who did a biopsy, it was skin cancer and i was lucky to have had the biopsy as it actually got all of the cancer).....or even, once reaching menopause, not cared about because apparently, menopausal aging women aren't worth the effort......even from female doctors...... Its a dicey thing choosing and trusting doctors or massage therapists even physiotherapists ( once, my physio' made me worse after a treatment that was supposed to help) etc can all get it wrong at times......thats the nature of human beings, we're not all infallible, even with 'you beaut'....degrees from universities etc......humans make mistakes......... |
Dragonfly - did you read Meadows post #15?
Also I started this thread, not because I googled it, but because I was told that massage was/could be contraindicative for high blood pressure by a massage therapist at a health clinic. This was then confirmed by my visiting several sites on google, i.e. none contradicted this finding. |
I double checked with my massage therapy school and so far massage is not contraindicated with high blood pressure, at least in Seedish Massage. We haven't learned deep muscle yet, that's in 2 more weeks so maybe it will be in that case, but its not with Swedish; it actually is beneficial to have a massage if you suffer from High BP.
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Did you read Meadows post #15 previous page? She explains that massage is fine if HBP is due to stress but not if the cause is a heart condition/blood clots. This squares with my experience of being directly told by a massage therapist that HBP is not suitable for massage (she was obviously covering her back but it set alarm bells ringing), and what I have found on the internet....so many sites saying the same thing. GP advice should be sought first. |
Right...we do not massage if its blood clots or a heart condition; without approval from clients MD. Sorry, I did not see meadows post...but that is correct.
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I'm glad that I read this post. I have stress and diet induced high blood pressure. I've always wanted to get massage therapy, to help lower my stress.
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I've learned Pfrimmer Deep Muscle Therapy and blood clots are contraindicated, however high blood pressure or heart condition the only difference is that you must start massaging the LEFT hand and arm first (instead of the right)
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Kylie, with respect, I would be very suspicious of wherever this information is coming from.
I've only studied anatomy and physiology up the level needed to be a massage therapist. I'm not a doctor, and will stand to be corrected. But the circulatory system flows all around both sides of the body. So there seems to be no logic based in the physiology of the body, that would cause massaging the left side first to make any difference at all. So I would ask whoever told you this to clarify it with anatomical facts. |
The best thing most people can do for their blood pressure is to consume less sodium and more potassium. Of course maintaining a healthy weight and getting exercise are beneficial as well. Incidentally, that is all true for people without blood pressure issues as well.
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gluten intolerance will affect blood pressure. in my opinion blood pressure is not really to do with the heart but the spleen. the spleen's meridian ends on the big toe, which is the furthest point from the heart, and so it governs energy flow, including blood, to the extremeties. dizzyness on standing is the spleen/pancreas. the spleen also affects the type and quality of blood, i.e. consistency etc.
it is not the heart that pumps the blood, but the "quality" of blood that allows the heart to pulsate at it's optimum rate- the blood pumps the heart. |
Meadows,
You start on the left side if client has high BP or heart condition because you want to clear out the old blood and pump fresh blood thru the left ventricle. If you started on the right side you would over load the heart with too much blood too fast. |
Well, I'm just glad I no longer have high blood pressure ...
HBP meds made me extremely sick to the point of not being able to function ... The only alternative was to find other methods to resolve the issue ... My massage therapist always starts on the left side; have never asked why ... I drink apple cider vinegar, use Kyolic Garlic, fresh garlic & sea salt in my cooking ... Exercise is daily yard work - the rain has brought a whole new crop of weeds to contend with ... It would be nice to be rid of my diabetes ... |
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Vinegar, garlic and exercise all sound good to me. |
a great book regarding sea salt and its healing properties even high blood pressure is....The Essential Guide To Water and Salt by F Batmanghelidj MD and Phillip Day
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Amy, so you must have gone for the massage already, yes? A Lymphatic massage is very very light, gently moving the lymphatic fluid along toward the lymph nodes. And then how did you feel after? You are on medication for it and it is under control, yes? if so and if you want to be sure, next time you're in your doctors, ask him and ask for a written referral. As long as you are on your medication and you and the doctor have it under control, you can have a massage, even a relaxing Swedish massage.
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