Make a difference - World AIDS Day 2016 - Free HIV/AIDS Information Courses

In honor and support of World AIDS Awareness Day, we’re offering free HIV/AIDS Information Courses for massage therapists and anyone who is interested!

To enroll in your free 6 hour CE course, please contact Wes Fletcher at WesFletch11@gmail.com!

www.arianainstitute.com/ce-online/#hivaids

Compassion in Action: Massage for Individuals with HIV or AIDS

The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well. – Elisabeth Kubler–Ross

HIV and AIDS impact the lives of those around us. The statistics are staggering. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 36 million people have died since the first cases were reported in 1981 and 1.6 million people died of HIV/AIDS in 2012. According to WHO, in 2012, an estimated 2.3 million individuals worldwide were newly infected with HIV.

How can we help? Massage therapists working with individuals with HIV/AIDS can make a meaningful contribution. Clinical studies have reported that therapeutic massage boosts immune system function in the following ways, (1) reducing anxiety and stress by decreasing the levels of the stress hormone cortisol, (2) increasing white blood cell counts, and (3) activating natural killer cells. Specific to HIV/AIDS symptoms, massage can also decrease pain by relieving muscle spasms, cramps, general body tension, and edema.

Additional ways that massage therapists can help individuals with HIV/AIDS include the utilization of modalities that will (1) help relieve respiratory congestion by facilitating the removal of excess phlegm, (2) help prevent or reduce muscular atrophy by improving muscle tone, (3) help increase red blood counts in cases of anemia, (3) stimulate lymph circulation and speeding the elimination of wastes and impurities, (4) assist in the post–surgical breakdown of scar tissue and adhesions, and (5) help decrease depression.

My personal experience of working with the HIV/AIDS population has been limited, not through any personal choice of my own; it just seems to be that's the way my practice has evolved. I have the deepest respect for people like Irene Smith, the director of Everflowing in San Francisco, who has dedicated her life to helping reduce the suffering of individuals with HIV/AIDS.

Working compassionately with all spectrums of the population, including those with HIV/AIDS, by utilizing an evidence–based approach, combining skilled touch with compassionate presence to enhance quality of life, can be a profoundly enriching experience for both the giver and the receiver.

Even if conventional medicine tells you that your condition is incurable or that your only option is to live a life dependent on drugs with troublesome side effects, there is hope for improving or reversing your condition. – Leon Chaitow

Now, let's take a look at another massage therapist's approach to working with individuals whose lives are affected by HIV/AIDS. Massage therapist Jacob Gnanakkan discusses the role of a massage therapist in the life of an HIV/AIDS client a bit further in his article The Effects of Therapeutic Massage on HIV/AIDs saying:

Massage therapists play a role in the lives of those infected with HIV and AIDS by complementing the patient's medical team. Massage therapy plays a vital role in helping patients cope with the various symptoms of HIV/AIDS and indirectly boosts the immune system at the same time.

The factors that seemed to contribute to immune enhancement were: pressure strokes, dosage and period of massage therapy. A single massage for a healthy person indicated substantial increases in the NKCA (Natural Killer cell Cytotoxic Activity). The effect on the immune system was even more intense when pressure was applied with multiple–dose massages lasting for a longer duration of time. In some studies, deep strokes, pressure points and trigger–point massage improved immune function in those living with HIV/AIDS. For the treatment to prove beneficial, it is recommended that the therapist use a full–body, stress management approach. The technique should include pressure strokes, such as acupressure, trigger–point therapy and deep strokes, which should last approximately one hour and be performed at least once or twice weekly over an extended period of months for immune–enhancing results.