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Post-Surgical Massage
Surgery is one of the most
stressful things we can experience as human
beings. From the anxiety of anticipation to the
physical pain during recovery, surgery takes its
toll! Surgeons aren't known for being gentle
while their patients are unconscious, anesthesia
is hard on the body, and on a deep level,
unconscious is not the same as unaware.
We have massage and trauma
bodywork for victims of rape, to comfort and
nurture them, to allow them to release their
fear and pain, and to allow them to readjust to
a healthy touch rather than a destructive one.
Rape is, on a purely physiological basis, a
“natural” act, meaning that it is intent and
lack of consent that makes it traumatic.
Surgery, on the other hand? There is nothing
natural about cutting someone open, putting in
or taking something out, and stitching that
person back up again.
Note: This is not
to mean that I am knocking or disdaining
surgery. Quite the opposite. I am profoundly
grateful that we have it available; I myself
have had somewhere in the neighborhood of ten
surgeries, both major and minor, for a variety
of health reasons.
On TV, surgery is portrayed
as almost peaceful. There is a quiet stillness
in the patient etherized upon the table. It is
rare to see what surgery really looks like, with
the patient's body often being shaken and moved
about. So we go from that—not to mention the
cutting and stitching—to recovery in a hospital,
where we get to lie and metaphorically lick our
wounds, dazed and drugged and in pain. The
nursing staff is almost invariably overloaded
and busy, their touch one of brisk efficiency.
Our families and loved ones are afraid to touch
us—afraid to disturb the myriad of tubes and
wires, afraid of hurting us further, afraid of
the way illness makes us confront our own
mortality.
In short, we are left alone
and cast adrift during a time when we need the
most solace.
Massage reduces stress,
thus bolstering the immune system and speeding
healing time. Massage after injury or surgery
can assist in the alignment of newly-forming
scar tissue. Increased blood and lymphatic flow
helps flush tissue of anesthesia in a return
towards homeostasis. In addition, a recent study
[link to .pdf article], published in the AMA's
December 2007 Archives of Surgery, indicates
that massage is safe and effective at reducing
post-operative pain. In my own personal
experience with surgery, I have literally begged
my loved ones for the comfort of their touch.
Sunk in the blackest, deepest pits of
post-surgical depression where it felt like all
I could do was lay around and cry, I have found
consolation in receiving bodywork; it is that
consolation I wish to share.
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