Massage therapies including Bowen Therapy and myofascial release

The Perrin technique is discussed here: Perrin Technique
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I came across this article this morning. The link was from a canine massage therapist, but the article is about human massage. Apparently, it is a myth that massage disperses lactic acid from muscles after exercise, and that in fact massage has other anti-inflammatory effects. I thought this might be interesting for ME peeps.

https://nohandsmassage.com/myth-lactic-acid/

Certainly, I find taking ibuprofen helps reduce my PEM effects if I’ve walked more than usual. Here they suggest a massage would be more beneficial (and more costly too):

“It turns out vigorous exercise causes tiny tears in muscle fibres, leading to an immune reaction — inflammation — as the body gets to work repairing the injured cells. So the researchers screened the tissue from the massaged and unmassaged legs to compare their repair processes, and find out what difference massage would make. They found that massage reduced the production of compounds called cytokines, which play a critical role in inflammation. Massage also stimulated mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses inside cells that convert glucose into the energy essential for cell function and repair. “The bottom line is that there appears to be a suppression of pathways in inflammation and an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis, helping the muscle adapt to the demands of increased exercise”, said the senior author, Dr. Mark A. Tarnopolsky.”

So now I’m craving a massage! LOL!

PS More detail on the research behind this here: https://nohandsmassage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/THE-MYTH-OF-LACTIC-ACID.pdf

 

Massage moves the muscles so some people with ME can't take it. However, I have been having massage every 3 weeks for many years now. It has helped keep my muscles soft as they keep wanting to go into spasm. I can't manage to do anything with them myself but mechanically moving them makes a difference.

It also feels as if the touching reinforces the message to the nerves. I get stuck and can't move but my husband touches my arms and it seems to waken them up! The massage of my back and limbs makes movement easier.

 

Paul Ingraham of painscience.com was a massage therapist and he has a very interesting review of the current state of the literature on his website here that you might enjoy: https://www.painscience.com/articles/does-massage-work.php

He also mentions the lactic acid myth. He's very critical of the efficacy of massage generally, but does still recommend it (for some people, in some circumstances).

 

Moved post

We don't appear to have a thread on this; it just came up in a search

https://www.feelbowen.com/treatments/treatment-for-me-myalgic-encephalomyelitis

it sounds very similar to Perrin technique

https://www.feelbowen.com/what-is-the-bowen-technique/how-bowen-works