Can you get massage if you have psoriasis?
If you have psoriasis, you may find that your symptoms get worse when you feel stressed.
Stress is a common psoriasis trigger. It can also negatively affect your mental and physical health in other ways, so it's important to take steps to limit stress.
Massage therapy is often used to relieve stress. Massage can help ease muscle pain and tension while promoting relaxation.
Massage can also help reduce pain or stiffness associated with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), which affects about 30 percent of people with psoriasis.
Read on to learn how you can protect your skin while getting a massage.
What is massage?
Massage applies pressure to skin, muscles, and other soft tissues to help stretch and loosen.
Depending on the specific type of massage, different movements or techniques may be used. Gentle to deep pressure is applied to targeted parts of your body.
For example, a massage therapist may rub, press, stroke, knead, vibrate, or tap your skin and muscles.
Many people with psoriasis can receive a massage without any problems, but you may need to take some special precautions to protect your skin.
Talk to your doctor about whether massage is a safe choice for you.
Communicate with your massage therapist
Before booking a massage appointment, consider asking the massage therapist about their qualifications and experience:
- Have they ever worked with clients who have psoriasis?
- Let the massage therapist know about your psoriasis and other health conditions you may have, such as PsA.
A well-trained and experienced massage therapist can adjust the products, techniques, and amount of pressure they use during your massage to meet your health needs and preferences.
Your massage therapist will avoid applying pressure to areas of skin that are inflamed or damaged. If you have PsA, we will also be gentle around any inflamed joints.
If you feel pain or discomfort during your massage, please tell us immediately.
Massage therapists often apply oils or lotions to the skin before massaging. This helps reduce friction. Oil-free techniques can be used if desired.
If there are certain oils or lotions that you prefer to use, consider bringing them with you. We will then use them in the treatment. You can also ask your doctor if there are any products they recommend using during a massage or on a regular basis.
Can you benefit from treatment if you have psoriasis?
Psoriasis can have many entry points – the disease and the outbreaks of eczema can, for example, be hereditary, but can also be caused by external influences, such as an incorrect lifestyle in terms of diet, exercise, smoking, etc. Stress and pressure on the body/nervous system in various forms is a major contributing factor, and the disease can be triggered by a shock or trauma to the body and nervous system. Since psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that generates eczema, a person with this disease will be able to get a really good effect from using the treatment, as treatment of the immune system, respiratory system and skin rash is quite effective here. Massage also has a really good effect on stress-related symptoms. At the same time, the treatment will release endorphins, so you will have increased well-being.
It can also be advantageously combined with other forms of treatment.
It is important to realize that you will not be able to feel huge changes in your body/disease right away, as the body has to work on balancing itself and if possible healing itself. The longer you have had the disease, the longer it will take for the body to get back into balance.
Contact us to find out more, or book an appointment and tell us everything we need to know to ensure your treatment is the best possible.
