Massage Therapy Can Help Elderly Stroke Patients in Warrington PA by Chris Lontok

One of the greatest dangers that the elderly are vulnerable to is suffering from a stroke. Strokes are the most common cause of disability among adults in the United States. The after effects of a stroke are often debilitating to senior citizens. These after effects can be eased, however, through proper massage therapy as long as this is given by professionally trained massage therapists. Among the modalities that can be used in this regard are reflexology massage therapy, deep tissue massage therapy, sports massage therapy and Swedish massage therapy. They are often given by the same therapists who also provide pregnancy massage therapy. Such therapists can be found in reputable professional therapeutic massage spas in Warrington PA that can serve elderly patients in Bucks County, Doylestown, Warminster, Horsham, Willow Grove, Abbington, Ambler, Chalfont, New Hope, Newtown, Richboro, South Hampton and Lansdale.

According to official statistics, one person gets a stroke every 40 seconds in the United States, with an average of 795,000 people suffering from strokes every year. This includes people who experience a first attack and also those who have recurrent attacks.

Slow stroke back massage can lower the heart rate, blood pressure and levels of pain and anxiety of elderly stroke survivors significantly. This was shown in the findings of the study conducted by researchers Esther Mok and Chin Pang Woo of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Department of Nursing and the Wong Chuk Hang Hospital in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The study was subsequently published in the Complementary Therapies in Nursing & Midwifery Journal.

The study observed 102 elderly stroke survivors with an average age of 73. The youngest participant was aged 65. All of them were suffering from shoulder pain but were not under pain medication or any other means of pain relief.

Participants were randomly assigned to a control group that was given only the standard care for stroke survivors, and a massage group that was given10 minutes of bedtime back massage for seven successive nights. The back massage involved slow strokes given while the patients were lying prone, sitting down or leaning on pillows.

The participants were assessed before the start of treatment, after the week long treatment and three days after the week long treatment. Assessments involved the measurement of heart rate, blood pressure, anxiety levels and pain levels. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Vertical Visual Analogue Scale were used.

Findings showed that after the week long treatment and even three days after that, participants in the massage group consistently showed significantly decreased heart rates, blood pressure and levels of pain and anxiety.

A truly professional and highly trained massage therapist from a reputable therapeutic massage spa can easily customize reflexology massage therapy, deep tissue massage therapy, sports massage therapy and Swedish massage therapy to meet the needs of elderly stroke survivors by incorporating slow stroke back massage in every session. Elderly stroke patients from Bucks County, Doylestown, Warminster, Horsham, Willow Grove, Abbington, Ambler, Chalfont, New Hope, Newtown, Richboro, South Hampton and Lansdale can readily avail of such customized massage therapy sessions regularly at a therapeutic massage spa in Warrington PA.