hello massage nurse today i'm going to be talking about reproductive pathologies i'm going to be
talking about menstrual syndrome menstruation menstrual cramps endometriosis ovarian cyst and
polycystic ovarian syndrome and menopause and i am going to tell you that for the first time i'm
really going to disagree with the book because i do not believe that menstruation and menopause
are pathologies i actually think that they're a very normal process of our reproductive years
and i do not think that they're pathologies and i especially for younger people you know they're
very impressionable and they might i don't want to put it in anybody's mind that menstruation is
a negative thing or menopause is a negative thing actually you know they're both to be celebrated so
i just want to get that out of the way i do not personally believe that they are pathologies
so let me start with premenstrual syndrome also known as pms and that's a cluster of
symptoms that occur 3 to 14 days before your onset of your cycle menstruation cycle
there's different symptoms like weight gain like bloating breast tenderness muscle and joint pain
emotional and behavioral uh you know releases and one of the the symptoms
can also be headaches and this is where you can really help your clients you want to accommodate
the massage you know to work their neck and shoulders and try to get them to relax and uh
like i said this is three to fourteen days before they start you know their menstrual cycle so just
accommodate to your client if they have a headache or if they just need a full body relaxing massage
so next will be menstruation and the menstruation is this laughing off of the endometrial tissue for
non-pregnancy so if you don't get pregnant then every month you slough off that endometrial lining
and to me menstruation is a normal process you know and it's not a pathology every
the onset of your first mental cycle is called monarchy and that the average age
in the united states is 12 years old so that's the average age and so monarchy is your first
menstrual cycle and it goes on for usually 50 years you know until you hit menopause
however it's a normal like i mentioned it's a normal cycle it to me it's not a pathology so
the next one will be menstrual cramps now here you know you really do get into a little bit of
a pathology because menstrual cramps are also known as dysmenorrhea and it is the number one
gynecological uh problem you know for women and it usually happens on the onset of your
menstrual cycle day one or day two one of the reasons is because you release
prostaglandin which is a hormone and this hormone uh you know it facilitates uterine contractions
like when women are going to give birth so that's why you feel the cramping because it's cramping
a little bit to slow off the endometrial lining that didn't you know that didn't
in other words you didn't get pregnant so it's laughing off all that um you know that uterine
lining so you might have contractions you know feeling you know cramping and uh one of the things
that you can do is as a massage therapist is put a warm you know a warm pad preferably a moist heat
on their abdomen or their low back because a lot of times it does hurt their low back and
another one would be rolled up towel that you can put underneath the breast when they go prone or
above the dress breast or between their breasts because of the tenderness that they might feel so
just accommodate to your client to whatever their needs are for that day whether it's premenstrual
syndrome or you know menstrual cramps always want to make sure that you keep your client comfortable
and heat is one of the one of the things that really helps with menstrual menstrual cramps
so next would be endometriosis and that's the endometrial tissue outside of the uterus
that gets response to hormonal changes and it's local pain it has inflammation
so you treat it again the same as a normal massage if somebody comes in and they have endometriosis
you know you want to accommodate the same way stay away from deep pressure and you know in the in the
pelvic area apply moist heat if you can keep them comfortable if they can't lay down prone because
they're you know they're in pain you prop them up sideline sideline guys is that a great option
especially for somebody that's having you know a lot of pain or issues swelling so remember that
cyton is great so next would be ovarian cyst and polycystic ovarian syndrome and they're different
the ovarian cysts are is our fluid filled within the ovaries and it's usually that's usually
unilateral it happens either on one side or the other side
and these little ovarian filled sacs you know that they're they hurt they can be painful and the
polycystic ovarian syndrome there are two or three times larger than the uh ovarian cyst
and they're usually bilateral on both sides and they may cause a lot of thickness and scar tissue
and actually the polycystic ovarian syndrome is the number one cause what you know one of
the causes and i think it is the number one cause for infertility because it has so much scar tissue
that you're not able you know to get pregnant so again most of these you accommodate to
the client's need you know if they are having any pain uh you want to keep them comfortable
and usually with polycystic ovarian syndrome they do have pain because it's um
usually on both sides so keep them comfortable guys put them sideline and you know have pillows
and you know try to just give them a full body relaxing massage because massage will help all
of them to release water retention for stress for helping them with insomnia with better sleep
you know patterns so it is massages beneficial to all of them now the last one would be menopause
i like to think of menopause well i used to think of it as men and men oh pals like you
pause from men but you know to me it's not a terrible thing to go through menopause it's
uncomfortable i'm not gonna deny that you know and it usually takes quite a few years it's not
an onset like one day that's it you're done no it's a process just like in anything you know
life is a process just like from your onset of menarche when you were let's say 12 years old
you know and now you're coming to the closure of that reproductive of your reproductive years and
it can also be celebrated you know because it's a different age and it gives you so much freedom and
so many other ways that it should be celebrated both of them monarchy and menopause should be
celebrated i don't think of them as a negative thing i don't think of them as pathologies um
you know i'm sorry about that so um menopause is the cessation of your menstrual cycle and you have
to go 12 months without a menstrual cycle before your post menopause before that's it you're in you
know full blown menopause so perimenopause is before prior to uh your menstrual cycle might
become irregular some women have uh cycles that go you go two or three months without a
menstrual cycle or it might get closer together every three weeks you know so it depending on
you know on whether you exercise you know stress makes it you know hormones are adjusting so it
depends on you and you alone how you're going to go through menopause and i think attitude is a big
makes a big difference you know i'll be honest with you guys when i went through it you know i
was hot all the time and it did fluctuate my moods a lot not i would get angry at things that i would
normally not get angry about it's like what the heck is wrong with me because i was usually would
not get angry at certain things you know however the average age here in the united states is 51.
and perimenopause are the years before post-menopausal that said you're done and so uh
menopause is an average of 10-year transition with a few years before for perimenopause and while
you're let's say that you go six months without a menstrual cycle and then it comes back again
well that's not post-menopause post-menopause when you've gone 12 months without a menstrual cycle
and like i mentioned to me menstruation and menopause are to be celebrated for different
reasons and it's not a negative thing one of the things with menopause that i will tell you
is that you know women have hot flashes and night sweats and hot flashes are two different things
however it's very important for you to keep your room temperature cool maybe have cool
sheets not blankets and have a fan blowing in the room from women with menopause i've had
many women that get a hot flash you know when when they're on the table so i try to keep the
fan blowing cool air that really helps because it to me when i used to get hot flashes and i
never got night sweats you know where you wake up drenched in the middle of the night i i never
really got that so i don't know what that was that's like but i did get the hot flashes i was
always hot and when the room got hot and stuffy i just wanted to run out that's how i felt like
i just wanted to run out and get fresh air so be aware of that you know uh the women's
reproductive cycle throughout their years is amazing this is what keeps generations going you
know you pass on your genes when you have children you pass on your your genes for future generations
so it's a wonderful thing to be celebrated and i you know i'm sorry that i disagree with the
book and some of you might disagree with me and that's okay i i don't mind that but
actually what i'm trying to teach is that you we can disagree with a book or with me or with
anybody you know do your own research make up your own mind but don't let anybody tell you
you know like hey menstruation is is a pathology because i i you know i want you all to be able to
make up your own mind about things empower you and especially empower women and especially empower
young women and especially empower young massage therapists so until the next time create a great
day
you