Collect Questions

Massage and bruises
This may be a naive question, but I don’t know the answer, so I will ask anyway lol.
Can gentle massage help disperse bruising, or would it make it worse? If you can massage a bruise, then what essential oils would you use (is there an arnica oil for example?), and has anyone here tried it, if so, with what success?
I expect that there are a lot of questions that will need answering for a sensible reply, like how deep is the bruise, where it is, how old, is it sensitive to touch, etc, but if anyone has any knowledge on this subject I would like to hear. Perhaps some of the questions above could be answered in your reply, that is if anyone here has any relevant experience, what were the circumstances in your case?
For my part, I have often had bruises on my legs for example, that are not painful, or sensitive at all, just unsightly, and not especially responsive to occasional applications of arnica cream. I also guess that it depends on whether it is a muscle that is bruised, or perhaps a shin that has been bumped, mine are usually thigh muscle from desk corners etc.
Of course, if it has been discussed before, then my apologies, can someone point me in the right direction please, and if it is a big no no, please don’t all shout at me together, I am only asking beacuse I dont know.
Richard



massage over bruises is locally contraindicated
wait several days after an injury, when there is no pain on touch, and use small very light semi-circular movements towards the heart to move away dead blood cells (which are causing discolouration). Don't use oil - flat fingers directly touching the skin.



Richard
I'm not sure if this will help you but I thought you might find it interesting...I am a Vodder MLD therapist and I do work on bruising using MLD.
Manual Lymphatic Drainage is a therapy which can be used over bruising, even fresh bruising. It will reduce the colour and size of bruises, as well as any associated oedema. When working over bruising, you can actually see the edges changing - it is quite fascinating. I have worked on clients after they have had liposuction and surgery etc. The results can be quite dramatic.
I should stress that this is Manual Lymphatic Drainage - MLD (as taught by Vodder, Leduc, Foldi, Casley-Smith etc) and not the 'Lymphatic Drainage Massage' practised by some massage therapists which is much heavier and deeper.
The specific hand movements of MLD are designed to work at skin level to influence the initial collector vessels of the lymphatic system (some movements are slightly deeper to influence lymph nodes or deeper channels). Sequences are ordered to direct lymph to nodes or around problem areas to other nodes.
Hope this helped in some way!
Anne



Many thanks to Anne and London for your replies.
I am not sure that a trip to “the wash” is warranted for a bruised leg, but I will bear it in mind, and will look out for MLD practitioners in my more local area. It does seem logical that massage would help dissipate the discolouration, as it is carried away by the blood stream anyway, and a little help should just speed things up, but obviously, it need to be the right help.
I was a bit surprised that more therapists haven’t chipped in to this subject, even if just to shout NO, but perhaps I am in a minority here, insofar as I am interested and no one else is lol.
Anyway, thanks again both of you for your thoughts and experience .
Richard



Hi Richard
As long as you do not try and use friction and heavy movements on bruising then no problem, neat lavender oil works a treat if you gently rub it in and seal it with a little oil or cream, I use it all the time :-)