Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72195
reader forum WHAT YOU ARE SAYING nurturing body, mind & spirit Taking Care of Yourself HEALTHY BODY MECHANICS E-mail Marketing SPIRITUAL FITNESS 20 Questions: What Kind of MT Are You? SESSIONS THAT HEAL YOU fl ushes lactic acid from muscles and is thus responsible for an infi nite array of symptoms clients may experience after a massage session. I agree that massage therapists overuse this explanation. I would also point out that diagnosis of any health condition is beyond massage therapy's scope of practice, and for that reason alone, therapists should remain cautious of fi nding reasons for clients' symptoms (however much clients pressure therapists to do so). However, the above description of lactic acid is not quite accurate. Lactic acid is a byproduct of cellular EDITOR'S NOTE We received numerous letters to the editor regarding the July/August Talk About Touch column "Flushing Toxic Myths" (by Mary Kathleen Rose and Mary Ann Foster, page 26). Due to space constraints, we decided to choose the one letter that best represented that collection of submissions, followed by a response from the authors. Flushing Toxic Myths I have enjoyed reading Massage & Bodywork magazine for many years and am always inspired and sometimes challenged by the submitted articles. I am writing, in particular, in response to the article "Flushing Toxic Myths." While I appreciated the basis for this submission on the myth of lactic acid, I felt that the information regarding lactic acid was misleading. Foster states, "Lactic acid is not a toxin; rather, it's a fuel for the muscles that metabolizes within an hour of its production." This statement represents the general message of the article and is meant to dissuade the massage therapist from stating that massage anaerobic respiration. This means when cells need to produce energy (adenosine triphosphate, ATP), which they always do, and there is not enough oxygen available for aerobic metabolism, the cells use only glycolysis as a pathway to meet their energy needs. Glucose and oxygen are the main energy sources for cells to synthesize ATP. When the body is stressed and not enough oxygen is present, the process of glycolysis in the cells (especially muscle tissue, which requires a lot of ATP to sustain function) break down glucose to pyruvic acid and then to lactic acid. The liver normally can convert lactic acid back into glucose, but this also requires energy. When the body is stressed (physically or emotionally) and there is a lack of oxygen, the cells continue to use anaerobic respiration in order to sustain cell function, thus producing more lactic acid. In addition, there are limited resources for the liver to convert that lactic acid back into glucose. This is called oxygen debt or lactic acidosis (Shier, D., J. Butler, and R. Lewis. 2004. Hole's Human Anatomy and Physiology 10th ed. New York: McGraw Hill Companies, Inc.). This overproduction of lactic acid decreases the pH level of the body. Normal pH range is between 7.35 and 7.45. If the level falls below 6.9, death can result (Copstead, L.C. and J.L. Banasik. 2005. Pathophysiology 3rd ed. China: Elsevier 14 massage & bodywork september/october 2008 Massage has important benefits for people's health and well-being, but massage therapists, and sadly, too many massage instructors, have passed along questionable claims about how and why it works.