DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I’d like your opinion on the benefits of massage. I’m 42 and play sports year-round at a pretty competitive level. In this past year, I have had to drag myself to keep playing. I felt tired out and ached in many places. Someone suggested massage to me. I tried it. It worked. I’m a new person since getting two massages a week. When I tell this to people, many of them say it’s all in my head; it isn’t. Do you believe massage could do this much for me? — R.G.

ANSWER: I believe you, and I believe in massage. They’ve helped me to get over sore muscles many times.

Massage is a scientific way to manipulate the body’s soft tissues, which include muscles and ligaments. It increases circulation, which carries away pain-promoting byproducts generated from work or exercise. It relaxes muscles and ligaments. It increases joints’ range of motion.

Massage has been demonstrated to relieve back pain that doesn’t arise from any structural changes to the back. Ten weeks of two massages a week have been shown to improve such back pain.

People ought to seek a therapist who is certified. Many states (I don’t know about provinces) require that massage therapists be licensed.

This doesn’t apply to you, R.G., but it applies to those whose arm or leg is swollen after surgery in which lymph nodes had to be removed. Lymph fluid comes from the circulation and bathes all body tissues and organs. It returns via lymph vessels, which act like vacuum hoses. They suction up lymph fluid and return it to the circulation. When lymph nodes are removed and lymph vessels disrupted, an arm or leg swells. Massage therapists, trained in techniques to mobilize this fluid, are able to greatly reduce such swelling and allow the affected arm or leg to move with greater freedom.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am an 82-year-old female and have had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy for a long time. I play tennis four times weekly. My cardiologist gave me strict rules to drink fluids when I play and to play with common sense.

Does this heart problem get less serious as time goes by? I have never had any fainting spells or felt like fainting. — M.L.

ANSWER: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is enlargement of the left ventricle’s muscle. The left ventricle is the main pumping chamber, the one that gets blood into the aorta and the whole body. The enlarged muscle frequently interferes with the pumping of blood out of the heart.

I don’t mean to make you nervous, but sudden death from heart malfunction is a possibility of this condition.

You are 82. You have had this problem for a long time. Nothing bad has happened. You are quite active in playing tennis four times a week. Not many people are able to do that at 82. Your doctor has OK’d your tennis playing. I don’t believe you are in any danger from cardiomyopathy. I have to admire what you do.

This heart problem doesn’t get less serious as time goes by. It often worsens. That appears to not be happening to you.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband and I read your column every day. We are both desk people — an engineer and an accountant. We try to walk as much as possible. We do not belong to a gym. We have four grandchildren, and they keep us busy. Are we getting enough exercise for being 56 years old? — S.C.

ANSWER: The exercise recommendation is that people get a half-hour of exercise daily. The exercise sessions can be divided into three periods of 10 minutes each. The more exercise you get, the better off you’ll be — up to a point.

Playing with your grandchildren counts as exercise.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.