Would this help sore/tight muscles or is it contraindicated for PMR?

[Orchid732]

Massage therapy for PMR?

[jinasc]

I found Bowen therapy helped me when I had a rare side effect. In fact it got me out of a wheelchair as I could not walk more than a bus length.

If you do decide to try it, make sure you go to the website site and find a registered practioner.

You can also put Tom Bowen in your search engine and read up on it.

[123-go]

I would love to be able to have a massage with soothing essential oils. There are a number which help with inflammation like lavender and chamomile. As long as the massage is gentle I can't see any harm being done. A hot stone massage is lovely.

[piglette]

I loved having a massage, but Covid has put paid to that.

[artfingers]

I am back to getting regular massages and they certainly do help me. My massage therapist is very very careful and we both wear N95 masks (medical grade) and he cleans up super carefully AND has a special air filter in the room. I have had the vaccine and so has he but we still keep our masks on. His son has cystic fybrosis so he is very careful. Anyway, if you feel safe enough doing it I have found it makes a big positive difference for me.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I love having therapeutic massage - but it doesn't do much for the PMR itself, just the add-ons and especially myogascial pain syndrome. You may feel worse briefly - it releases the cytokines involved in myofascial pain syndrome but that is a one-off not a daily occurrence.

[Sophiestree in reply to PMRpro]

Is it ok to have massages with LVV?I used to have regular massages pre being ill, often quite hard, but now I've found out about my bone t-score am wondering if that's not very sensible, but also wondering about massage with inflammation. I miss them a lot, but obviously until the covid situation sorts itself out it's not really on the cards anyway.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Sophiestree]

Don't see why not as long as the therapist is well trained and aware of your medical history. Can't see why a low BMD should make much difference - they are supposed to work on soft tissue, not bones but if anyone knows differntly please tell me.

Both these articles seem to think it is OK with care:

floridaschoolofmassage.com/....

theros.org.uk/media/km2hfcz...

[Sophiestree in reply to PMRpro]

thank you for the reply and the links.

[suzy1959]

I used to love having massages-before PMR. Since then I find most of my body is really sensitive to touch and sore, especially my shoulders. Any massage I have had has been painful and kept me awake, so not worth it. I do, however love reflexology- my feet not so painful. Maybe I just went to the wrong people?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to suzy1959]

A primary reason for shoulders being sore to touch is they are in spasm - as happens in a whiplash injury. My physio is rather good at identifying the position of the ouchy bits! I have a different view of therapeutic massage - yes it will be sore at the time and not the relaxing massage of the spa but the longer term result will be worth it. And there are often a lot of squeals during the process ...

[Croft9232]

Yes me too 👍! Remedial massage from a qualified therapist, she will concentrate on any niggly areas you may have, for me buttock and lumbar.. She sees a lot of walkers , who are doing the Coast to Coast walk .

[gaqke10]

I am a retired massage therapist and I get a massage every two weeks. It usually makes me feel a lot better--stress relief. I've been very slowly reducing Pred, going from 3.5 mg to 3.25 mg/day. During these past two weeks I began to feel some PMR type pain. I had a massage two days ago and it did not relieve the muscle pain that I feared was PMR. (No surprise.) So I took 5 mg yesterday and will go back to 3.5 as soon as the pain goes away. My rheumy said

don't worry, wait a few months and try again. It will not discourage me from my massages! I missed it so much during the lockdown last year. My therapist is very careful about COVID and I am too. I hardly go anywhere but this is a small risk worth taking to me.