massage

Bones, joints and muscles
1

Can I just ask  what is the most effective cream to massage with please??

2

Hi there....everyone will tell you different sone people use bio oil but my surgeon who is German said they use pure cypress oil, so I tried it and I personally think it's wonderful! I love the rustic smell it has,its very easy to massage with and it has great healing properties along with its good for circulation. I am 14 weeks post op and I definitely think the oil has assisted in my recovery. I don't ice anymore but I still raise my leg above my heart after massaging. I have spent my recovery on my couch not a chair as I think for swelling it's easier to lay on couch with your leg up either on cushions arm rest rest but I put mine up on back of couch. Haha I don't care what people think I look like it's definitely helped me a lit with both my hip and knee replacements.

3

Thanks Shirley, sounds like a good idea putting feet up on back of sofa, will try the cyrpess oil. take care.

4

Hi Jackie,

I had a patella realignment in December last year and I'm also a remedial massage therapist. Initially I used coconut oil and also Palmer's cocoa butter/vitamin E cream (predominantly for the skin), then once the incision was healed I also used a massage balm that contained arnica oil (once a week only and it's good for deeper bruising and swelling).

Arnica is an amazing herbal, but you should do some research if you intend to use it. You should only use a product that contains dilute amounts of arnica and not the undiluted essential oil. You should also try a patch test on your skin to make sure you have no reaction. It's not recommended if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or have eczema.

As Shirley mentioned cypress oil is also really good as it's beneficial for the skin and helps alleviate muscle spasms.

Good Luck!

5

Hope the sofas working! I think everyone should try getting their legs higher than their shoulders as trust me it reduces swelling a lot faster

6

Oh yes I forgot to mention it is good for muscles too and I swear by it. It does say that you should dilute with another oil but I didn't and it's definitely helped. I wish my surgeon would have told me this when I had my hip replacement! Arnica whether taken as tablet form or used as a massage therapy is good but you do have to way up the pros and cons of this. I have very fast healing skin so my surgeon told me not to use as after my hip replacement my skin healed too quickly and I had to have a few stitches cut out. Everybody is different though!

7

I've been using Vitamin E oil directly on my incision and the cream on my quads.

8

Agreed, everyone is different; I had disolving stitches, so no worries there. Cypress should be ok to use as a straight oil, but people with sensitive skin should aways patch test undiluted essential oils because some can irritate.

Arnica oil is a bit different; it should never be taken internally as it's toxic, and even through skin, overexposure can lead to skin irritation, vomiting and gastrointestinal disorders. It's best used as an ingredient in commercially available creams.

9

Jodi I was taking arnica tablets from boots they are in the herbal section

10

Yep, I should've clarified that it's the undiluted oil that's not recomended for internal consumption. It's also used in the food industry as a flavouring, but it's in minute quantities

11

Thanks jodio im going to try this iv been having bad

restlessness in my legs since tkr been up most of night someone said it could be muscles. they jumpy n twitching really painful

12

Haha yuk tasting too icwould imagine even if you could take it internally

13

Couldn't get any cypress oil in town today

so iv ordered some off eBay