Hands On Parkinson's

With Madeline on our way to Port Townsend

Introduction

When I started down the Parkinson's disease pathway just a few short years ago I had little knowledge of what was in front of me. I sampled a few things which were outside of conventional medical/drug therapy and quickly gave up on them, either due to a lack of will or lack of desire to commit money to the process.  One of the earliest of these attempts was massage.  In this blog I describe what happened when I sampled massage again several years later with different expectations and a different level of commitment.

Massage

The lights of the massage room had been dimmed to provide a soft and comforting environment.  The feel was completed with new age music playing softly in the background.  The massage therapist knew that I had been here for a massage once prior several years ago and then without explanation did not return. He looked up from his folder, that he had been reviewing since I had entered the room.  He now asked me why I had returned after such a lengthy period.  I shared that I had an extremely sore shoulder that had been with me for several months and that I hoped that just maybe massage might help that.  I added also that I hoped that I might also get some relief from my Parkinson's tremors since things were worse now than just a few years ago.  I find myself having followed the path of taking more drugs than I would really desire and wonder whether massage could least slow that process.  I failed to add another reason that ranked among things that were important, that is that my wife really believes that massage might help and that I had not given it a fair chance.  He said little that I can remember but wrote something down in his notes and closed his folder.  He told me where I could put my clothes, explained how to lay on the massage table and exited the room.  I removed my clothes as instructed and shakily climbed up on the massage table and covered myself with a flannel sheet.  Lying faced down just myself and the new age music in the background I tried to relax and waited for his return.

He did return in a few minutes and noticing my fluttering and tremoring hands went to work on them.  He explained that by stimulating accupuncture pressure points along the way as he massaged the large muscles he might have some impact on nervous outflow which in turn should relieve the tremors.  He continued massaging the major muscle groups while occasionally pressing hard on accupuncture points until it was a little bit uncomfortable but at some point he at least slowed the tremors.  Then he spent extra effort on my sore shoulder, massaging it deeply and rotating the arm itself.  I experienced some discomfort in this but I did not complain.  He ended with my feet and pressed deeply in the arches and pulled them until I could feel a stretching in my back. After nearly an hour he declared the session over and returned after I had dressed.  I told him that I felt well and perhaps even good but silently I had no illusions about lasting relief for either the shoulder or or my tremors.  The tremors had stopped during the course of the massage but were already reappearing like weeds that stubbornly return after being pulled.

I returned at two week intervals for a couple of months and have continued that up to the present time.  At each appointment the massage therapist asks how I have felt in the previous weeks at home.  He makes notes in his folder after my response and begins the massage with some adjustments to what he does.  It took multiple visits to achieve a state of muscular and mental relaxation that was significant enough to have an impact on my sore shoulder and my tremors, but it did come.  As the weeks passed the therapist spent extended time massaging tightened muscles in my chest, back and neck.  The excruciating sore shoulder was now minimally sore. With time and multiple visits I found that I could achieve  the kind of relaxation via massage that not unlike sleep, suspends the tremors completely for short periods of time.  My wife believes that the muscular relaxation has improved my posture as well. I could add that I also believe that it enhances the effectiveness of my medication.  For these things and for even a short period of time when I feel free from tremors, the massage at $60 is worth it.

  Now when each session is finished I feel completely relaxed as I get dressed.  I comfortably walk out to the front desk and write a check for the massage with handwriting that looks as good as that on checks I wrote some years ago.  Some tremor returns by the time I reach the truck but as I ride home I cannot deny that I feel good and the tremors at least for a short period are not significant. 

Shaky