Hi everyone, we took my husband Ron for his first Lymphatic Drainage Massage this past Saturday. My facialist is also a massage therapist, so I got to stay in the room and watch. It defintely seemed to help the puffiness under his chin. She showed me how to massage his throat, so I am going to continue giving him massages. My facilist is also knowledgeable about reflexology. We looked at a diagram of the foot, I guess every organ in our body is "tied" to a certain area underneath the foot (I hope I'm not confusing you). Anyway, the throat and neck are right under the big toe where it bends. She massaged his foot and everything felt supple except for underneath his big toe. It was hard as a rock. She kept massaging that area and it slowly became supple. While she was doing that Ron could feel a tingling sensation in his throat, weird huh? She believes that if we keep massaging that area, it will help his body heal. We also went to a health food store and got some immune system builder vitamins and some anti-oxident powder that's suppose to be really good. So we shall see, but I figure if there's more we can do to heal the body, in a holistic way, why not use that too. Have any of you tried using herbs for healing and did they help?

Shelley

Shelley,

You might want to look at the "Adjuntive Therapy" board for some discussion on exactly what you are asking.

Ed

hi Shelley
I'm interested in the massage, since surgery I've gained a 'double chin' I hate it, still half of my head is nerve dead, so why am I worrying!
Sushine.. love and hugs
Helen

Hi Shelley,
If you check the news section of the OCF site, there are a number of articles listed that deal with this topic.

In addition to the usual recommendations to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, it seems that green tea and tumeric (or its active ingedient, circumin) are both promising in their potential to fight cancer, although clinical trials and data are scarce. There are also some articles on Vitamin E and other anti-oxidants.

Hope this is of some help. - Sheldon

I was once a fan of massage and before my cancer, I used to have massage every weekend to ease my job tension. When I was diagnosed, I stopped doing that because I always think massaging my body may help activate other sleeping cancer cells and worsens my illness.(This is just a groundless fear).So even though I am in remission for 3 years already, I dare not go for any massage.I have asked my oncologist about this and he said there shouldn't be any problem going for a massage. So still looking forward to a day when I get my massage back.

Karen

Helen,
Please forgive. I forget exactly what extensive surgery you had recently (I know it was nasty), but if it involved removing lymph nodes and you are now accumulating more fluid in the neck area, yes physical therapy will help alleviate this fluid build up. As I have said before, go for it.

Hope you feel better.
Take care,
Eileen

Shelley H:
I too have "Bull Frog Throat". I am going to have a massage therapy session soon. What should I expect to pay per session?
Darrell

Hi Darrell,

We were charged $30 per half hour. Ron had an hour massage so it cost $60. Well worth it though! The therapist showed me how to massage his throat too, so he gets a throat massage every morning. He's noticed a difference, he said it is helping. Enjoy your massage!

Shelley

Darrel,

If you get a script from the doctor and go to a PT for this, your insurance should cover it.

Take care,
Eileen