Why Massage Therapy for Amputees?

Most treatments for helping amputees manage pain are pharmacologic, or medications, while many of these carry the risk of unpleasant side-effects.  Amputees are increasingly starting to turn to complementary and alternative therapies for relief. Amputee Massage Therapy, as a complement to medications, has much to offer clients with amputations.

What Are The Benefits of Amputee Massage Therapy?

Amputee Massage Therapy helps reduce the pain, stiffness, and spasms which occur in the muscles of the amputated limb. Additionally, massage restores flexibility and range of motion to overused muscles an amputee depends on to compensate for the missing limb.  Subsequently, an amputee achieves an improved performance of daily functions.

Residual limb pain is a painful sensation or feeling from the remaining part of the limb.  By increasing sensory input from the residual limb, massage may override the brain’s perception of pain. Massage therapy can also help develop tolerance of the residual limb to touch and pressure.

Dealing with the effects of scar tissue buildup is an everyday occurrence for an amputee’s injured and surgically repaired limb.  How does scar tissue differ from normal tissue?  It is avascular (no blood supply), thicker and less elastic than normal tissue. Because of this, scar tissue has limited range of motion with pain, itching, and sensitivity. Massage therapy helps to alleviate the symptoms associated with scar tissue buildup.

Amputee Massage Therapy also provides relief from irritated nerves and neuromas, reduces edema and improves skin health.

The evidence on mood improvement from massage therapy is strong.  Amputee Massage Therapy has a profound influence on quality of life by helping to manage depression and anxiety.

What is Hot Bamboo Massage?

Hot Bamboo Massage uses bamboo sticks of different lengths and diameters. A heating pad keeps them hot. The longer sticks are used for gliding strokes, while smaller tools are used for more specific work.   The bamboo replaces the hands of the massage therapist and used to perform similar strokes as when doing regular massage.  Clients will comment that aside from the heat, it feels comparable to hands!  As the heat dissipates throughout the tissues, it assists in the release of tension and knots, providing a very effective deep tissue massage.

What Are The Benefits?

As with many massage therapy techniques, Hot Bamboo Massage increases blood circulation which enables improvements in  nervous system functions and sensory nerve perception. In addition, it stimulates cellular activity to repair and intensely nourish the skin, assists to remove lactic acid from exercised muscles and improves lymphatic drainage, ultimately helping remove toxins from all systems of the body.

Other benefits of using heated bamboo include a relief from pain and stiffness, thus improving joint and muscle flexibility.  It encourages the softening and breakdown of adhesions in the tissues helps relieve migraines, improve the quality of sleep and manage respiratory ailments.

Finally, Hot Bamboo Massage encourages the body’s natural healing abilities as it releases endorphins, your body’s natural painkiller.

Advantages Of Bamboo:

Considered to be one of the most multifaceted plants on earth. In Asia, bamboo symbolizes durability, fertility, prosperity and peace. It is used as medicine in the form of the Chinese herb, Bambusae Caulis.

The use of bamboo is an innovative way to provide deep tissue massage. It is also powerful preventive therapy against stress and tension.

While bamboo massage can be beneficial for the clients, it is also beneficial for the therapists. Since the bamboo cane replaces the hand of the therapist, this allows the therapists to deliver a deeper, firmer massage, while minimizing strain on their hands and fingers.

What is Hot Stone Massage?

Hot Stone Massage is a technique which uses heated basalt stones and oil to massage the muscles and fascial tissues of the body.  Basalt stones are smooth and have the capacity to retain heat for a long period of time.  While the heat from the stones is first of all calming, it also allows for deep penetration and consequently, encourages deep relaxation.

A widely accepted belief is that hot stones have been used for therapeutic purposes for thousands of years.  Native Americans, for example, would heat up rocks on a fire and place them on the body for healing purposes.  Native groups which settled in Arizona are credited with popularizing this alternative form of healing massage for modern times.

What are the Benefits?

Hot Stone Massage provides relief from pain and discomfort associated with general muscle aches and some chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia, arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome. It also decreases pain associated with muscle spasms and injuries. In addition, it increases flexibility in the joints, allowing for improved function and mobility. Another benefit is that it stimulates the circulatory and lymphatic systems, improving detoxification of the body and calms the central nervous system. Furthermore, it helps reduce the chronic stress caused by muscle sprains, spasms and stiff joints.  As a result of all these benefits, it creates space for the body to improve it’s self-healing capacity.

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