Because diabetes
involves the need for the maintenance of healthy blood glucose levels
(i.e. sugar to be converted into energy in your cells), when you have
diabetes you have to follow a somewhat strict plan for living. This plan
includes the use of medication where applicable (usually insulin in
some form), with a balanced diet and adequate exercise. If you're
diabetic you will also need to refrain from smoking tobacco, and will need to be aware of possible hormonal imbalances (i.e. thyroid hormones and estrogen) as well.
So where does massage therapy
come in? Well, because of the variety of benefits that massage therapy
offers, if you have diabetes you can see a number of positive reactions
from treatment. A session only once a week can offer some of these
excellent benefits:
1. Stress. Massage helps to lower your stress
levels, which can affect hormonal imbalances and in turn affect your
blood sugar levels. Fluctuating blood sugar levels can put a further
strain on your mental capacities, furthering the frustrating
stress-blood-sugar-cycle. Thus massage can help you to lower stress and
thereby help you to manage your diabetes. In addition, lowering of
stress levels can have profound effects on your heart health, which can also be compromised with diabetes.
2. Circulation. Since high blood sugar levels can cause hardening of your arteries,
you can gain a lot from increased circulation in addition to improving
your heart health. And because your feet are furthest from your heart,
it is in your lower legs that massage therapy is most beneficial,
especially in regards to wound healing and improving sensation. This is a
very positive result of massage, since foot issues can disable you and
make life very difficult. Furthermore, increased circulation can help
your cells in regards to insulin uptake, an added benefit with diabetes.
3. Connective tissue.
Elevated blood sugar levels tend to cause a thickening of the
connective tissues in your body, i.e. those tissues that connect your
muscles to your joints and skin. This thickening makes it very difficult
to move around with ease. Thus with diabetes, you may experience some
pain and reduced mobility, something that massage therapy can help to
counteract.
Overall, massage therapy can help immensely if you
suffer from diabetes. Although you will still need to maintain a healthy
diet and exercise routine, massage can help to balance your blood sugar
levels and keep you physically fit.
By Richard Lobbenberg, Acupuncturist and TCM Practitioner
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