Question1. explain blood pressure and the relevance to body massage and contraindications?
2. explain how pulse rate increase and how massage can have an effect on this?
AnswerHi Karen
This sounds like a couple test questions I've seen. Are you testing me? ;)
Here goes...
Blood pressure generally speaking involves the heart (left ventricle), kidneys and the arteries. If you can imagine the heart is very much like a swimming pool pump where it circulates water in the pool. The filter on a pool could be represented as the kidneys, filtering out dead bugs, leaves, pollen etc.. The tubes leading in and out from the pool represents the flow to(arteries) and from (veins) the pool.
The arteries are regulatory to blood pressure by either expanding or contracting as a result of maintaining body temperature. They can localize and regulate blood pressure as well. Kidneys also play their part in blood pressure regulation.
Massage helps to stimulate the entire circulatory system, and inducing the parasympathetic nervous system to "put on the breaks and chill out feeling". Overall massage strokes act as manual pumps to flush out the area and create greater movement of blood. For example imagine you are on a treadmill walking at a good pace for 20 minutes, heart rate is increased as a result therefore pump volume is up and filtration is increased through the kidneys. Massage is very similar to this action with the exception that the heart rate either remains the same or goes down. This depends on the type of massage in this case Swedish. Pre event sports massage however is designed to stimulate localized areas with oxygenated blood to specific muscle groups, heart rate in this case may be increased.
Contraindications relative to blood pressure fluctuations? Those with excessive high blood pressure, on high doses of blood pressure medication, elderly, poor health that hasn't received a massage before or someone who lives at sea level and is vacationing in a high altitude area (say Colorado) that's in fair health. This happened to my Aunt age 67 where she actually suffered a brain anurism. Doctors speculated the change in atmospheric pressure triggered it, massage may have accelerated its release, but we didn't even go there.
To your success
Jack Barakitis
