Poor circulation during massage

[mellexry]

Okayso,

I was practicing the circulatory massage techniques that I've learned thus far on my boyfriend last night. After less than 30 seconds of performing passive joint mobilization on his arm, he complained of pins & needles in his hand (which was hanging below the table level), so I placed his arm back on the table. He generally has poor circulation, and his hands are cold pretty much all the time.

I was only really working his back and shoulders during the practice session - would the pins & needles have been alleviated by work further down his arms & on his hands? I ran out of time to continue last night, and I won't see my teachers till Weds., so I'm bugging you guys If it would alleviate the pins-&-needles feeling, would a series of massages over time help to improve his circulation overall? Or is anything about this contraindicated?

Thanks in advance!

 

[steve c]

Is he on any medications or have any health related issues to poor circulation?

 

[Skittles]

What I was thinking. You need to find out if he has some condition that causes the pins and needles that quickly before you start poking around in elbows and armpits. If there's not an underlying condition, (such as Reynauds or neuropathy) then you start doing an assessment by talking.

Does he often have hands go tingly? Is it dependent on position? When does it happen most? Least? What makes it go away? When his hands aren't tingly, how is his sensitivity in his extremeties? Not sensitive? Hypersensitive?

How far up the arms does the tingling extend? Are they going to "sleep" or is it a pressure thing and the tinglings stops as soon as pressure is relieved?

If all of that points to a consistent reaction, then you start the physical assessment. Can you reproduce the sensation reliably with passive ROM? Active ROM? Pressure? Where? Check at the wrists, elbows, armpits, shoulder blade, neck, in succession. Then add ROM with and without pressure to see if it is worse or better.

The truth is, you may not have enough training yet to do this type of assessment. That's okay. For now, experiment with arm position and/or pillow placement to see which ways will not aggravate the condition, and do your assignments.

And this is a good thing! ... for you! LOL! Necessity for modification of standard treatment will improve your skills.

 

[Bloo]

BreatheBodywork, you are so thorough!

So this sounds like a nerve thing to me, like the brachial plexus nerve branches being choked off with his arm hanging below the table, hence pins and needles so quickly...or would that type of thing just be "tingly" and pins and needles would strictly be blood flow?

 

[John sussex]

Assuming it's not some other type of medical condition, it's "instant" pins and needles without a medical condition, that would indicate that the nerve bundle is already under compression, and the position puts just enough pressure on it to get zingers going right away. Moving the arm back into a neutral position should ease the tinglies right away.

If it takes a few minutes for the arm to go to sleep, it could indicate compromised circulation, in which case a neutral arm position should restore normal feeling within a couple of minutes.

Since the blood vessels and nerves run through the same area, there will likely be factors of both nerve and circulatory problems. If you suspect either of these, one of the best first treatments is myofascial release of the superficial fascia in rotator cuff, chest and arms. See what improvement that makes, then try to isolate the area that is causing the most significant part of the problem. There are other methods, but this is likely the easiest.

Interesting stuff!