Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
There are many sites on the internet about massage and ms-simply type in ‘ms and massage’ into any
search engine-you may have been there and been just as confused as me about what to do and where it
actually may relate to you-you may also be wondering where I come into the scheme of things and why
my knowledge is different to everyone else’s information
My knowledge offers a simple self help-system developed on and for ultra marathon runners and
walkers that works with the muscles-this makes it easy to do and it does not need equipment or too
much complicated hands on training to do
Unless you know what you are doing most modern massage techniques are not only too technical-they
can be too rough on tissues, arteries, and veins in the legs from uncontrolled finger force and untrained
hands working on and into the muscles causing damage
Why is working with the muscles more important than working on them?
The circulation is already challenged and the muscle tissues already struggling for fresh blood-working
on the muscles entails using the hands and fingers to encourage circulation and this means using
uncontrolled finger force into the tissues
This the integrity of the venous and arterial systems is compromised by breaking the fine capillaries
and venules that run throughout the circulatory network of blood carrying vessels
Dealing with the muscles in an appropriate way is important if using manual therapies-to help increase
lower leg circulation it is important to make a choice that is not going to make things worse
As ms advances problems exercising and moving the legs becomes more difficult-as lower leg
circulation decreases the lack of blood supply to the muscle tissues can make the feet go cold-cold
which increases the discomfort of the person with ms-many people then have to wear lambs wool boots
to keep the feet warm
Muscle health is based on having a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients to them
To keep this supply going a balance between what goes into the muscles and what comes out of them
must be maintained-if for some reason fresh oxygen rich blood can't enter the muscle tissues levels the
muscles fatigue
To keep it reaching them the body has a circulatory system; part of it takes fresh blood to the muscles
pumped there by the heart through the arteries-another part of the system takes the used blood away
back to the body where it is re-nourished with oxygen and nutrients and recirculated again.
• Poor circulation
There are many other problems caused by venous inefficiency and it may be worthwhile looking at
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/26/12/3333
Peripheral Arterial Disease in People With Diabetes
http://www.o-wm.com/article/8057
Controversies Regarding Vascular Disease in the Patient with Diabetes: A Review of the Literature
VOLUME: 53 Issue Number: 11 author: Robert J. Snyder, DPM, CWS
http://www.videomd.com/PeripheralArterialDisease-fv-465.aspx
The ms leg needs something simple that is easy to do without putting the
circulatory system at risk of further damage
What makes Light Manual Muscle Relaxation so different from other recovery
systems?
It is an alternative stripped down basic tool which uses the muscles to work with themselves rather than
relying on the skills of someone who works on them
This model has many benefits for someone who has to take the place of a skilled therapist in a remote
area and who cannot afford the real thing
To try and help with diabetic swollen legs you can use aimless guesswork and prod and poke and just
move the legs in an aimless fashion and hope what you are doing is working
Or you can use planned and structured movement that is based on medical physiology and been tested
on many ultra marathon runs and walks around the world
• No equipment needed
• No disrobing
• No oil
• No washing up
• No long training
• No clean area needed
• Can be done by anyone
I worked for 24 hours off this chair (next to the bottles) without any equipment in unhygienic conditions
There are other ways to help the circulation in the lower legs
This is the last thing someone with ms needs because they already have a problem with movement-and
it is needed to make the calf muscles work to pump the used blood from the legs
This is very passive and for not much use because they are not implementing those needed lifestyle
changes and getting that exercise part of treatment working- they need a pro-active role in helping the
calf muscles to work the pump at moving the fluid up the legs
How to do this just needs the knowledge of how to work with the muscles not on them!
In countries such as my own (Australia) with a good health system, improvement using drugs, exercise,
or surgery with inputs from physiotherapists, dieticians, chiropodists for foot care is available as are
gymnasiums to help with weight and exercise
In many countries-there is no help for those who do not have the financial ability to pay for treatment
and only basic care may be given-and it may be days walking or cycling to reach a hospital-self
treatment for these people is a necessity rather than a choice issue
They have to become their own physical and muscle therapist-and they have to
learn how to do this with a minimum of education and training
I should point out I am not a doctor so I am not treating anything and what I say should not
be taken as a medical treatment or implied that it is-medical treatment should be sought and
advice taken about whether it is suitable for your complaint
For more information on Light Manual Muscle Relaxation go to
http://aching-legs.org/charity/mutliple_sclerosis_warm_feet_option.html
mgillan@hotmail.com