Massage Adjustments for Clients at Risk for Lymphedema

Presenter: Gayle McDonald MS, LMT (3 hours online lecture)

About the Class: Many people who have been through cancer treatment are at risk for developing lymphedema at any point following treatment. In this class we will look at which treatments put clients at risk, the signs that a person has lymphedema, and the adjustments massage therapists should make to ensure that lymphedema is not triggered or exacerbated. There will be a hands-on component so that therapists have a chance to practice the stroke direction, pressure, and sequence of the strokes.

What to bring: This class will be online, please have note-taking supplies and if you want to practice the hands on demo have a massage table, linens, 3 pillows, AND a practice body between 8pm and 9pm. This will not count as a hands on class

About the Presenter: Gayle MacDonald, MS, LMT, is the author of Medicine Hands: Massage Therapy for People with Cancer, (3rd Ed.) (2014, Findhorn Press) and  Hands in Healthcare (2021, Handspring Publishing). Gayle first began  massaging oncology patients at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon. Since 1994 , she ha s taught and supervised massage therapists on the oncology medical/surgical in-patient units, in the chemo infusion clinics, radiation oncology, apheresis and the bone marrow transplant unit. She has had the incredible good fortune to share and exchange knowledge with therapists around the United States, Scotland, Aust