Leg Air Compression

Leg air compression boots help encourage muscle recovery, lymphatic drainage, and circulation, reduce soreness, fatigue, and inflammation, and improve flexibility and range of motion. It can be beneficial for people who sit or stand for long periods, athletes, and those with poor circulation.

People with severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD), active deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism, severe congestive heart failure, infections like cellulitis, severe untreated nerve damage, acute fractures, and severe lymphedema should not use leg air compression.

When Is It Used?

To Help Lower Stress & Anxiety Level

One reason I might include it is to increase stimulation or surface contact throughout the massage. The vibroacoustic table already provides a sense of comfort and ease throughout the session, but when the leg air compression device is used, it tends to create a tandem-like sensation. Tandem is a term for a massage performed by two or more licensed massage therapists.

The tandem sensation provides multiple points of contact. This leads the brain to attempt to focus on each simultaneously. Quickly, the brain realizes it cannot focus on multiple points at once, prompting it to fully relax and embrace the experience. Tandem massage is considered to be one of the most pleasurable types of massage because it feels all-encompassing.

In a pain management session, I typically massage another area of your body as the leg air compression device is active. This additional stimulation leads to tandem-like sensations, which help reduce your stress and anxiety levels. Stress and anxiety magnify your perception of pain, so when those levels are lowered, it will have a beneficial effect on lowering your pain.

To Help Improve Circulation, Lymphatic Drainage, & Reduce Discomfort

Sometimes the hamstrings and quads experience a deep, dull achiness or feel stagnant and overly tired. They want to be awakened and revitalized with a specific type of touch, which usually entails circular techniques that move through the muscle like water. The legs don’t want to experience pain, and though many therapists will tell you otherwise, your legs want to be nurtured with safety and sensations that feel good.

For example, rather than jamming my knuckles or elbow into the lateral area near your IT Band, I address your vastus lateralis layer by layer until it feels right as rain. Having your legs massaged doesn’t have to hurt; in fact, we want to minimize discomfort throughout your session. You may experience a sharp, almost-hurts-so-good sensation from time to time, but the feeling should never cross the threshold into pain.

The degree of pressure many massage therapists use on the legs is excessive. Most people have hypersensitivity throughout the inner and outer thighs. Massage therapists use this pressure because it is what they were taught in school, and they never advanced beyond the basics in their understanding of the body. In many of these areas, the legs want the lightest touch; sometimes, the pressure is feather-light. If your leg hurts to the touch, that should be the maximum pressure to use.

Remember, pain is an indication that the brain is afraid. It is creating pain to protect itself. If it detects potential injury when the area already hurts, it validates the brain’s belief that the area is in danger. Hypersensitivity indicates an overprotective pain system. The only way we can earn the brain’s trust, so it powers down its tendency to create unnecessary pain, is by introducing it to a pattern of safety. Sometimes this requires a light touch. Trust me, feather-light techniques can be incredibly effective for managing pain.

Sometimes, a light touch isn’t enough, especially when the quads and hamstrings are experiencing a dull, achy, stagnant, or overly tired type of pain. This type of discomfort is screaming for deep relief, yet is simultaneously hypersensitive to the touch. This is where the leg air compression device comes in. In addition to providing a tandem-like sensation that can help lower stress and anxiety, it encourages lymphatic flow and improves circulation.