精东影业

A cancer diagnosis is jarring, often meaning months or years of challenging treatment. And afterwards, if a person is lucky enough to be in remission, that鈥檚 usually considered the end of the story.

But for many survivors, it鈥檚 not the end. The treatments themselves can cause years of , including heart problems, infertility, and hormonal and memory issues.

For people recovering from breast cancer surgery, it can mean nerve damage, pain, and muscle weakness.

A new trial is testing a potential solution for some women: a highly specialized version of massage therapy.

Jess Brady was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 27, and it changed her life, as it has for the nearly 3.5 million women in the United States with a history of breast cancer.

After chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, doctors told her she was cancer free. But she was left with nerve damage and pain and weakness in her arms, chest, and back.

That was when she learned about a study looking at the possible benefits of massage for women after breast cancer surgery.

鈥淚 actually just kind of stumbled upon the study by chance. I saw a flyer in my doctor鈥檚 office, and I thought right away this is something I would like to do,鈥� Brady said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have any real hesitation; I thought if anything it will be at least relaxing and calming.鈥�

It was the flyer for a pilot study from the , at MetroHealth and Case Western Reserve University. Researchers there were studying whether specialized massage techniques could help breast cancer survivors with pain and mobility issues, and for Brady, the study worked.

鈥淚 would walk out of each session just feeling like a new person. It made such a huge difference, physically, mentally, emotionally,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like if I hadn鈥檛 done the massage study, my recovery would have taken much, much longer.鈥�

Brady鈥檚 physical troubles following breast cancer surgery aren鈥檛 unique. It鈥檚 common for women to have mobility issues, says massage therapist Jeanne Massingill, who developed the techniques used in the study.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not able to brush their hair, they can鈥檛 brush their teeth, they can鈥檛 wash their hair, they don鈥檛 have the strength anymore to open a jar,鈥� Massingill said. 鈥淭hey can no longer do what they used to do. And that鈥檚 what happens after that surgery, which is why I became so passionate about it.鈥�

Massingill developed the techniques more than 20 years ago when her friend had breast cancer, and she wanted to help. She specifically focuses on a type of massage therapy called myofascial release, which she says relieves pain around the scar tissue and surrounding areas.

Massingill鈥檚 friend felt much better after her massage therapy, and she referred other breast cancer survivors to Massingill. Eventually, local doctors began to hear about her techniques and wanted to learn more. Some health professionals called her up and said, 鈥�'We want to meet you. We want to see who you are.鈥� I was a little nervous. I thought am I going to lose my license? And they said, 鈥極ur girls are getting better. What are you doing?鈥欌��

A pilot study began, which is the one Jess Brady initially joined after seeing the flyer in her doctor鈥檚 office. Before the study, she was working as a cardiac technician, but after the study, she became a certified massage therapist.

Now, Brady is one of the massage therapists implementing these techniques in a larger, randomized control trial to test the effectiveness of myofascial release for improving mobility and pain among breast cancer survivors. The National Institutes of Health is funding the study.

The study鈥檚 lead researcher Dr. Ash Sehgal says there are a lot of women who have persistent issues that aren鈥檛 relieved by medication or physical therapy, so it鈥檚 important to find new ways to help.

鈥淲e found that there are a lot of women who are just so happy to be alive that they don鈥檛 necessarily bring up this problem with their doctors, so we think that doctors are underestimating the magnitude of this problem,鈥� Sehgal said.

Sehgal says even if women learn about massage as a potential therapy option, it鈥檚 not available to everyone.

鈥淗ealth insurance companies tend not to pay for massage treatment, so only people who can pay out of pocket are able to afford massage treatments,鈥� he said.

Beth Bennett is with , a nonprofit focused on helping people with cancer. Her organization is collaborating with the researchers because they often see women with long-term pain after radiation and breast cancer surgery.

鈥淲hen you think about it, if somebody were to have an amputation of an arm or a leg, they would go through extensive rehab,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淣ot just physically for that limb that they鈥檝e lost, but psycho-socially, emotionally losing something. So when a women has a mastectomy, it is in a way, it鈥檚 an amputation. They鈥檝e lost a part of their body.鈥�

Massingill says anecdotally, she鈥檚 seen massage therapy bring some amount of normalcy to survivors鈥� lives. But anecdotes don鈥檛 convince health insurance companies to cover services.

That鈥檚 why she and the research team are hoping their study provides scientific evidence for whether massage therapy can benefit women after breast cancer surgery.

Researchers are still looking for study participants. If you want to learn more about the study, contact the study coordinator Mary Jo Day at 216-778-8456.