• Elizabeth Muson Erbrecht
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According to National Hospice and Palliative Care literature, the primary goal of hospice is to help individuals who are coping with diseases considered to be terminal or incurable to live as fully and comfortably as possible, in familiar surroundings, and in the company of family and friends.
I have found relating to the dying through touch to be a profound experience, both personally and professionally.
My hospice massage work helps the family step into their grief process knowing a trusted supporter is on hand for their loved one. It has given me a chance to know amazing people I would otherwise never have met, and allowed me to share in some of the most precious and sacred moments of their lives.
Most importantly, it has given my patients a tranquility that they deserve, right when they need it most.
Massage therapy can be a nurturing part of the dying experience, for reasons including these:
1. Dying is a part of living.Every person in hospice has spent the last few months—possibly longer—fighting for their life with modern medical interventions. The battle is taxing. The treatments, as amazing as they can be, are often a source of additional stress on the body.
When a person enters hospice care, he agrees that the focus of medical care will be comfort and quality of life, not curative care. Hospice massage is a natural treatment for this plan of care that has been proven to help the patient be at peace.
2. Touch is a universal language of the heart.There comes a point when massage as we know it is no longer called for. As a person nears death, he or she is often in a fragile, vulnerable state.
Attentive touch, or doing what is called for in the moment to ease any form of discomfort, is the best approach and can greatly enhance the quality of life in the patient.
This means that one minute you might be offering a gentle foot massage or massaging the scalp, and the next you may be moistening lips. There can be no structured plan or goal.
Hospice massage is about doing the humble work of each moment as it unfolds. Sometimes the most compassionate thing you can offer is holding a hand or the feet while you focus your attention on the inner wholeness of the one you are touching.
Attentive touch is often responded to by releasing tears, or by talking about things the patient has been unable to discuss with family members.
This is all playing a role in reducing stress and anxiety and allowing our patient to relax in whichever manner they need, an opportunity that otherwise is never presented.
3. A healing presence helps.As hospice massage therapists, we are called upon to bring forth something that comes from deep within: our ability to simply be present.
We must couple our education and skills with the simplicity of human compassion and our capacity to offer compassion to another. Our best resources when serving the dying person come from within our own hearts.
We become the space-holder, allowing the dying person their own process and experience. We serve as an anchor for family members and other caregivers.
This undivided attention is met with a transformative response of trust and calm by the patient.
4. A hospice massage therapist is an advocate for the patient, offering an elevated level of care.They are the voice for a patient who does not have one. They work with the nurse or social worker to know and understand the patient.
This added support can play a pivotal role in the patient and the family. They are trained to understand the body and focus on natural relaxation.
Massage therapists who volunteer for or contract with a hospice organization should possess a liability insurance policy that protects them in case of patient accident or injury.
5. Hospice massage helps stabilize the patient.Physical benefits from positive touch include lower blood pressure; stabilized heart rate; stimulated release of endorphins; a feeling of being cared for; and eased depression, anxiety and fear.
About the Author
Elizabeth Munson Erbrecht, LMT, has worked with hospice clients and patients for 15 years. She has held multiple positions, including volunteer, volunteer coordinator, massage therapist and spiritual care coordinator. She has built and implemented massage therapy programs at three different hospices. She is a National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork-approved continuing education provider, teaching hospice massage. This article complements the feature article Erbrecht wrote for MASSAGE Magazine’s March 2018 issue, “Hospice Care: Massage Provides Comfort on the Journey.”

How to help balance your sleep hormones with self-massage

By Bridget March


“An astonishingly high number of people have what would be classed as 'normal' sleep patterns, but still wake up feeling sleepy, dull and unfocused – unable to concentrate and generally feeling 'below par',” says Karolina Maciejewska, UK manager of dreamy home-massage app Soothe. “It is sleep quality, rather than duration or continuity, where the problem lies,” she explains. We simply cannot get a good night's sleep, meaning many of us experience 'non-restorative sleep' (NRS), the clinical term for problems with sleep quality in the absence of a disturbed sleep pattern.
Can massage manipulate your sleep hormones?So how does this link to massage? Well, “Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques can be prescribed to address NRS,” Maciejewska explains. “Plus research has shown that the chemistry of sleep is relevant to massage therapy because massage can directly influence the body's production of serotonin and the creation of melatonin”.
Beata Aleksandrowicz, a massage expert and the creator of the Pure Massage Spa Training Method, says that these two hormones, plus cortisol, play a vital role in our sleep patterns.
“Levels of the hormone cortisol are often elevated in people who are stressed (yes – that’s most of us) which can lead to insomnia,” she explains. “Massage helps to balance the hormonal system and it's proven that massage can reduce the level of cortisol by an average of 30 per cent.” We’ll take that.
When it comes to serotonin – our happy hormone which influences our wellbeing, appetite, memory, sexual drive and sleep – Aleksandrowicz explains that, “Whilst it needs light and exercise to thrive, studies have also shown that massage can help to boost serotonin levels up to up 28 per cent.”
In addition, melatonin, “the sleep-inducing hormone which increases with the darkness of the night,” as Aleksandrowicz puts it, can be triggered by the pressure applied during a massage.
"One hour of massage provides the body with benefits that are equivalent to a power nap”
If you wanted another excuse to book in a massage, let Maciejewska provide one. “While improving the sleep experience, simply one hour of massage provides the body with benefits that are equivalent to a power nap,” she says. Of course, while using Soothe (the Uber of massage) is one way to get one – as is employing the skills of your nearest and dearest, self-massage can be beneficial in boosting your sleep, too.

 Re-Essa Buckels, Reporter

In light of the opioid epidemic, many patients are now dealing with the issue of finding pain medications that are not as addictive. (Source: WALB)
 
Doctors at an urgent care facility in Albany want residents to know about the alternative methods for treating pain, and many are not deadly or habit forming. (Source: WALB)
 
OneSource Healthcare Dr. Davis Kinney (Source: WALB)
 
OneSource Healthcare Dr. Troy Alderman (Source: WALB)
ALBANY, GA (WALB) -In light of the opioid epidemic, many patients are now dealing with the issue of finding pain medications that are not as addictive. 
Doctors at an urgent care facility in Albany want residents to know about the alternative methods for treating pain, and many are not deadly or habit forming.
Dr. Davis Kinney said ever since the opioid crisis has been on the rise, several patients who were once prescribed opioids are now being forced to look for alternatives. 
So the question becomes how can residents deal and manage pain without opioids? 
Dr. Kinney recommends non-pharmacological treatment for back and chronic pain like diet, exercise, and massage chiropractic therapy.
But he does prescribe some pain meds like over the counter ibuprofen but not those that are addictive like opioids. 
And although there are options, the problem is there's no longer one drug that will solve a patient's problem. 
"We've been able to get a lot of people off the opioids and it's amazing once they get off the opioids they found out that a lot of their pain was actually coming from the addiction on the opioid," added Dr. Kinney. 
MORE: CDC: Opioid overdoses jump 30% across US
"It's all about education and you educate people on the effects of opioids," said Dr. Troy Alderman. 
Dr. Alderman explained it's the conservative care like massage therapy paired with non-addictive pain meds that can have long-term benefits. 
Doctors at OneSource said getting off opioids now will outweigh the effects of long-term use of them. 

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By Payal Dwivedi


Particularly for women, a massage can give you mass Of advantages, mentally as well as physically. The advantages of a therapeutic massage go much beyond the external "feel good" factor; and it also works even better when done by an experienced masseur. Read on as we reveal some amazing reasons why you will definitely go for a relaxing massage this weekend.
Helps to look good 
Lose some weight and look good by having massage. The soft, gentle strokes by a masseur enables the lymphatic system to release toxins from the body in an effective manner. This release of toxins has a firming effect on your body. To increase blood in the body massage is effective, and some specific ones can even help to breathe life in your dull complexion and lacklustre hair.
It reduces the chronic pain 
Many people are distressed with shoulder, neck and backaches. It can be the chronic pain due to some illness, or wrong body postures or cramps from strenuous exercise, a good massage can help release it in a antibacterial and holistic manner. Massages gives comfort through muscle relaxation, applied pressure and improved circulation. Talking on this, researcher Dan Cherkin, Ph.D., says, "We found that the advantages of a massage are about as strong as those reported for other effective treatments: medications, acupuncture, exercise and yoga."
Gives a complete sleep 
The kneading and rubbing of muscles benefits to decrease the tension in the body, therefore rendering an immense relaxation. As mentioned before, massages help in the release of serotonin and endorphins in the body, which affect your sleep positively. Research has shown that massage therapy helps to enhance delta waves in the brain, which are back up to good sleep.
Supports immunity 
A massage may be your answer to those common colds and other ailments that strike you often. studies say that massages increase lymphocytes, a type of white blood cells that prepares your immune system to fight diseases. A strong immune system keeps you healthy and energetic. Add to this the fact that it curbs depression and stress, giving you all the more reasons to indulge in a massage for the sake of your health.