Massage as medicine: Therapists learn to tailor their touch to cancer patients' needs...

[massage]

Masseuse Nanci Newton of Hadley places a folded towel under Sue Monahan’s shoulder as she prepares her client for a massage.

“Are you comfortable? ...Say uncle if you need to,” she says as she begins to work her hands across Monahan’s back. Newton uses broad, gliding motions, her thumbs occasionally pressing on the knots she feels, but she is careful not to bear down too hard.

Monahan, 50, of Whately, had the lymph nodes removed from one of her armpits six years ago during breast cancer surgery. It left her susceptible to lymphedema, a painful swelling in her upper body. The towel prevents irritation in the sensitive area. It is one of many measures Newton takes to keep her clients, most of whom are cancer patients, comfortable.

“Massaging people with medical conditions is not necessarily covered well in basic massage training,” says Newton, owner of The Healing ZONE on Route 9, who sought specialized instruction from the Muscular Therapy Institute in Boston.

Among things a therapist must learn is how to work around medical devices, such as a port, the opening in the chest where chemotherapy is administered, dealing with sensitive scars and knowing how to react to physical changes, such as when a client’s hair falls out during a massage.

“I like having a space where people can come and feel safe,” Newton says.

A need for touch
Massage is a complementary therapy that cancer patients say can be enormously helpful. And the benefits, like reduced anxiety and better sleep, continue after the cancer is in remission, according to The Society for Oncology Massage.

Newton is one of a growing number of massage therapists who are learning the techniques to make their practices more accessible to these patients.

Even hospitals, such as Cooley Dickinson in Northampton and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, have message therapists on staff for cancer patients.

Cancer Connection in Florence, which provides a variety of services to those with a cancer diagnosis, offers free massages.

“There is a great comfort in receiving physical touch when you are having a bad time, when you are stressed or anxious, when you are going through something difficult, says Elizabeth Cahn, program coordinator at Cancer Connection. Among the integrative therapies Cancer Connection offers, she says, massage therapy is the most popular.

Newton began giving massages through Cancer Connection. “I am passionate about this work because I’ve seen within my own family and friends people needing to be touched — touch that doesn’t hurt, touch that's not medical,” she says. About 80 percent of her clients are being treated for or have a medical history that includes cancer. The Healing ZONE, she says, is a space where people can leave their cancer behind, even if it is just for an hour, as they close their eyes, sink into the heated massage tables, and let the soft acoustic guitar melodies soothe them.

A brief respite
Monahan, who is tucked under a blue sheet, lays perfectly still as Newton works. Newton pulls her hands away briefly to squirt a bit of medical grade lotion into her palm. It doesn’t contain any metals or fragrances that could irritate the skin of those who might be going through radiation.

Monahan, who met Newton through Cancer Connection, began seeing her shortly after undergoing radiation treatment — once her reddened, irritated skin had healed. She has been getting massages from her every few weeks ever since.

“It actually taught me to calm down and relax, even if it is for that short time,” says Newton, who adds that her anxiety had skyrocketed after her diagnosis. The muscles in her shoulders and neck had seized up, she says. “It was induced by stress because (cancer) is scary.”

Monahan found Newton’s massages provided a brief respite from the chaos cancer creates.

“It’s very relaxing, totally freeing,” she says.

Accepting as is
Another client, LynneAnn Shapiro, 73, of Amherst was going through chemotherapy for ovarian cancer when she went to The Healing ZONE for the first time two years ago.

Her hair had fallen out, but, she says, she didn’t feel self-conscious with Newton.

“When I laid down on the table it was such a sense of relief not just to get a massage, but to be accepted,” she says.

She also has a skin condition called neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder which causes tumors to grow all over the surface of her skin. At first she worried what Newton’s reaction would be. “But she set me at ease immediately,” says Shapiro, who goes to Newton for a weekly back rub. “I feel like I am an individual person with her. I am not just a run-of-the-mill client.”

Shapiro still has low levels of cancer in her body and isn’t sure if she will need another round of chemotherapy. If she does, she says, she knows that she will still have a place to go to get some relief.

“She just knows my body and she knows where to put the special touches. Days when I am feeling fatigued, I don’t know how she does it, but I get off the table feeling much better.”

Lisa Spear can be reached at [email protected].

How to connect

The Healing ZONE is located at 58 Russell St, Hadley. To learn more about the practice or to make an appointment, call 585-0077.

To schedule an appointment for free massage therapy through Cancer Connection in Northampton call 586-1642.

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