A Massage Minute-Massage for Cancer Patients

As a massage therapist it’s a rare instance that I turn someone away from my table. Like most in the medical professions I would like to help everyone who comes to me as much as I can. There are, however, a few conditions that absolutely contraindicate massage, blood clots for one. And there are some, like cancer, that hover in a gray area of concern and doubt.

During any discussion of massage and cancer it is important to dispel two myths. First, it has long been thought that massage can aid in spreading cancer through the lymphatic system. Current research shows that this is not true. Exercise increases circulation as much if not more than massage and does not aid in metastasis. Second, and more importantly, no matter what anyone tells you massage is not a substitute for conventional treatment. Early detection and treatment are paramount. Any treatment advised by your doctor should be acted on as quickly as possible.

Having said this, what can massage do for the cancer patient? As shown by Doctor Tiffany Fields at the Touch Institute in Florida, massage does have a beneficial effect on the human immune system; it aides in the clients general well being and may help in the bodies ability to heal itself. In the same vein, massage can help to sooth the anxieties and tensions facing a serious illness may cause.

While working with cancer patients it is crucial that the clients doctor be consulted before any treatment begins. there are several complications (edema, increased risk of fracture) that need to be addressed, and only a physician should give the final go ahead for treatment.

You Asked Our Esthetician

Q. I've been hearing a lot about the new eyelash growth products like Revitalash®. Do they really work?

A. Yes, they do. Just ask Tanya, one of our estheticians who has seen her own lashes double in length and density with Revitalash®, the brand we carry.

Revitalash® was developed by Dr. Michael Brinkenhoff as a special gift for his wife, Gayle, while she was recovering from breast cancer. Intensive chemotherapy treatments had damaged Gayle’s once-beautiful eyelashes, leaving them sparse, breakable and fragile.

After extensive research with a team of talented cosmetic chemists, Dr. Brinkenhoff formulated an eyelash conditioner that, after just a few weeks, gave a renewed look of vitality to Gayle’s eyelashes.

Soon friends and family wanted to know Gayle’s secret to beautiful looking eyelashes. Gayle knew immediately the perfect name for the amazing eyelash conditioner that had given her eyelashes a renewed look of vitality: Revitalash®.

Thus, a new product was born; and a formula created originally for just one special woman has become a product available to women everywhere who want to have beautiful looking eyelashes.

Gayle and Michael are committed to donating a portion of the proceeds from RevitaLash® sales to benefit non-profit breast cancer research and education initiatives.

“Often we feel helpless when someone we love is suffering. I am very fortunate, in my own small way, to have been able to help Gayle through her recovery. Watching her be excited about her beautiful looking eyelashes has been a real joy.”

Have a skincare or beauty question? Visit FACES online BeautyBoutique to Ask Our Esthetician NOW.