Heavy Leg Syndrome-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation as an aid to lower leg circulation

Light Manual Muscle Relaxation making life more comfortable for

someone with heavy leg syndrome-the walk you have before having a
walk
Many people have something described as heavy leg syndrome-many of them self diagnose what they
have without seeing a medical professional first-if your legs are heavy and fatigued there may be a
reason why they are that way which can be addressed with medical intervention
When medical contributors to heavy legs have been ruled out, that leaves the physical contributors such
as shoes, the way you walk, the occupation you do-are you standing and walking on flat floors all day,
do you sit down at a computer and not move for long periods?
Gravity and the weight of blood in the body
Water is subject to pressure-the deeper it is the more pressure there is at the bottom; on the surface the
swimmer feels none, but the deeper he goes the more it affects his body as the pressure increases.
Blood in the body is similar, at the head, the pressure is almost non-existent, but at the feet the lowest
part of the body the pressure is higher-the term for this is Hydrostatic pressure (Hydro-water Static-
standing still) and is measured in mm hg.

Head -10 mm hg

Feet +90 mm hg
In a standing person, pressure in the veins is low at the top of the head and high at the bottom; the
pressure and weight that is placed on the veins in the legs is very high; the only thing preventing all the
fluid running out of the feet is the ends of the toes!
When the fluid builds up it prevents fresh blood entering the muscle tissues-this leads to fatigue and
sets in place a self defeating system of leg fatigue, swollen heavy legs, and more fatigue-heaviness

Copyright 2009 Michael Gillan 1 ultra marathon recovery specialist

http://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html
 Heavy Leg Syndrome-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation as an aid to lower leg circulation
muscle fatigue and heavy legs

An image of a leg of a swollen heavy lower leg and ankle-it shows how lack of movement and exercise
can affect lower leg circulation and make it more difficult for the exchange of warm blood for cold

Leg health is based on having a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients to them
To maintain the supply of warm blood to the feet a balance between what goes into the muscles and
what comes out of them is important-warm blood can't enter the muscle tissues if cold blood is not
coming out
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
Part of the circulatory system (the arteries) takes fresh blood from the heart under pressure to the
muscles-another part of the system (the veins) does not have a pump of its own so it relies on
movement to take the used blood from the lower legs back to the body where it is re-nourished with
oxygen and nutrients and recirculated again.

The Calf Muscle Pump

The muscle pump is made up of all the leg muscles and together they form a pump which forces used
blood against gravity up the legs back to the body for recycling by alternately putting pressure on the
venous system and releasing it
The veins which take blood back to the body have one-way valves in them-as the muscles squeeze,
they open the valves, letting blood pass through them; when the tension is released, they close stopping
the blood flowing back down towards the feet
Lack of movement reduces the veins ability to open and close by keeping constant tension on them, this
is called calf muscle pump inefficiency
Problems caused by calf muscle pump inefficiency include

• Poor circulation

• Lymph system inactivity

• Venous return reduced

All these together add up to cold feet (and other problems)

Copyright 2009 Michael Gillan 2 ultra marathon recovery specialist

http://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html
 Heavy Leg Syndrome-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation as an aid to lower leg circulation
There are various ways to deal with cold feet

• Hot water bottles

• Warm towels

• Warm footbaths

• Foot massages
And the old way of using gravity to undo what it has done
Raising the legs and letting gravity drain the fluid back down them back to the body

Position
1
Legs raised
tightens muscles

This position leaves the knee and ankle in a locked position making them stiff to move on standing so
if used a long board should be used under the legs for support.

But none of these actually address the main problem of lack of circulation-and the best way to
approach this is to actually get the calf muscle pump working again
Massage as is conventionally done requires a long course of study-this is necessary to make sure that
neither the person being massaged nor the one doing it is hurt-hand/brain coordination is essential and
this can only be achieved by practise until the hands move without the masseur having to think about it
To learn how to do this massage adequately takes a lot of money, time and study because you have to
learn anatomy, physiology, pathology and how to do all the strokes-then you need oils as a lubricant to
prevent friction burn of whoever is being worked on
An alternative substitute is something that can be used in place of this model-if you are caring for
someone at home much of what is required for just improving circulation is superfluous and not
needed-all you need to know is how to work with the legs and muscles within the limits of the
affliction, pain, comfort level, restrictions and medical permissions of the person being cared for
In other words you do not want to make things worse or inflict any injury on them or the muscle tissues
you are going to work with-the best way to approach this is as carefully and conservatively as possible
and with the view that if you are doing no good-you are doing no harm either

But you are giving them caring constructive touch

Copyright 2009 Michael Gillan 3 ultra marathon recovery specialist

http://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html
 Heavy Leg Syndrome-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation as an aid to lower leg circulation
Light Manual Muscle Relaxation-the walk you are having when you are not having a
walk using caring constructive touch

I work with ultra marathon runners and walkers (people who walk or run any distance over marathon)
on recovery during and after their event-I work at events that range from 6 hours to around the world
(www.worldrun.org)

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 any
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
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
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
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

article on heavy legs syndrome

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=315

Copyright 2009 Michael Gillan 4 ultra marathon recovery specialist

http://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html
 Heavy Leg Syndrome-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation as an aid to lower leg circulation
The leg with circulation problems needs something simple that is easy to do
without putting the system at risk of damage
Light Manual Muscle Relaxation the Massage-Lite leg assistance

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 where there is a shortage of them or there is not the financial ability to afford the real thing
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 and to some extent any movement is better than none
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 that takes into account the problems of the
client and makes the most of any movement restrictions placed on them

The advantages of having a massage-lite system

• No equipment needed

• No disrobing
• No oil
• No washing up
• No long training
• No clean area needed
• Can be done by anyone

Works with the muscles not on them

Light Manual Muscle Relaxation-(Massage-Lite) works through
• Simplicity
• Predictability
• Consistency
• Non invasive
• User friendly

Copyright 2009 Michael Gillan 5 ultra marathon recovery specialist

http://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html
 Heavy Leg Syndrome-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation as an aid to lower leg circulation
How user friendly?

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 at home 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
In countries that have more poverty, having massage schools for training, and paying clients to pay for
massage is not an option they can barely afford the clothes on their back without having to pay tuition
fees, massage table, oil, towels etc
There is also the hygiene aspect-washing facilities, soap powder, the absence of clean running water,
dust sticking to oil which has to be washed off

Copyright 2009 Michael Gillan 6 ultra marathon recovery specialist

http://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html
 Heavy Leg Syndrome-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation as an aid to lower leg circulation
Light Manual Muscle Relaxation is a Do-It-Yourself method based on encouraging
the muscles and tissues to assist with their own circulation
• It is not a massage system

• It is not invasive

• It is not aggressive

• It is not time consuming

• It does not need disrobing

• It does not need oil applied to the skin

• It does not need strong hands and fingers

• It does not need hand/brain coordination

• It does not need equipment

• It does not work on the muscles

• It does not work on any specific injuries

• It does not threaten the integrity of the muscles

• It does not use force on the muscles

• It does not need more than a few minutes to do

• It does not require a long course or workshop

It makes it easier for someone who has to become their own physical and muscle
therapist-and they have to learn how to do this with a minimum of education and
training

Giving a massage-lite leg workshop

Copyright 2009 Michael Gillan 7 ultra marathon recovery specialist

http://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html
 Heavy Leg Syndrome-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation as an aid to lower leg circulation

Working with the muscles

You are at this article because you obviously have an interest in warm feet so if you want more
information on Light Manual Muscle Relaxation and you can afford it-please buy a manual
The money raised from this goes towards supporting my project on establishing classes around the
world in countries that do not have access to many health services

Michael Gillan
Long distance recovery specialist

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://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html

mgillan@hotmail.com

Copyright 2009 Michael Gillan 8 ultra marathon recovery specialist

http://charity.aching-legs.org/tired_leg_syndrome_relief.html