Hi, I’m a new member who is a carer for my wife who has SPMS for 30 years. She is suffering with poor circulation in her legs and feet, partly due to fatigue not helped by lockdown. I have seen the foot massager adverts on tv and wondered if anyone has had experience of using these? Are they beneficial to MS sufferers or would I be wasting my money?
Have you googled them? I would hope they help, but you never know and they are pricey.
Boudsx
Do you mean circulation boosters?
I bought one because my feet were always puffy.
You can arrange for the VAT to be waived if it is for medical reasons.
Thanks, I will research them.
I saw details of the wonderful Normatec trousers that elite athletes swear by. Then saw the price they sell for and realised that they were not going to be for me! Over £1000! But they do look good …
Same with all those massagers that are advertised. You can just imagine them working, and imagine the bliss they’d bring! Question is though, do they work - or rather, do the cheaper ones for mere mortals work, do they last?
I’ve got a range of things going on - permanent pins and needles in my feet, tight spastic calf muscles, weak leg, core and arm muscles, arthritic knees that are close to needing knee replacements, plus cervical dystonia which is muscles fighting each other in my neck / shoulder region.
As it happens I took the leap and invested in a hand-held massager the other day - have only had it 3 days, but it does already seem to be helping. Legs are a bit less stiff, knees are a bit better. I’ve not even yet had a chance to play around with all the different heads or speeds. But being hand-held, it does mean that it can work on pretty much all the body. You can use it on yourself or get another person to massage you with it. Not as easy as just sitting in a chair and relaxing as those leg trouser massagers get to work, though. (Oh for those normatec trousers!)
The one I settled for is called Thermagun Prime. It is a percussive massager, and a make used quite a bit by physiotherapists and ostheopaths. Quite expensive, even for the non-pro version that I got. I wasn’t quite sure what to get, but wanted to do something whilst waiting until Covid recedes a bit and it becomes safer to visit osteopaths / physios. I based my choice on reviews of it from actual users, who seemed to not be so much the fitness fanatics, but people like me with aches, pains, neuropathy etc. It had good write-ups by them, so I’m hoping it will benefit me too.
Do your research, hopefully others on here may have tried different things too to suggest (or suggest avoid), read users reviews and youtube reviews too. It is trying to get past the advertisers’ hype, and your own wishful thinking too, to make a reasonable, informed decision. If, after that, you’re fairly confident you’ve found something that might do the job, take the leap. And then let us know if it has helped.
10 years ago I got a very good Shiatsu neck massager - did my research, managed to pick up an ebay secondhand one in good condition, and that turned out to be a godsend. I still use it on my neck. It doesn’t do legs, feet etc, hence my search for something additional. I’m hoping this new one will also turn out to have been a good choice - time will tell!
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Hi, I have puffy ankles and have SPMS, though I don’t think they are related. My podiatrist lent me a Revitive Foot Massager for three months. To be honest it didn’t help at all. I was grateful to borrow the machine, but the time I spent having my foot massaged by the machine would have been better spent just by lying on the sofa and raising my feet up to allow the blood to flow back to the rest of my body. I did give it a lot of time but in the end gave the machine back to the podiatrist. Hope tht helps.
Yeah I have a feeling my wife will have the same reaction as yourself. She used to love going to Motorcise gym as the machines did all the work for her and she felt much better after each visit. Unfortunately the franchise went bust and lots of clients lost money in advanced membership, my wife included. she says she lifts her legs up to exercise each morning before getting out of bed but i know her left leg is heavy and ‘lazy’ so i wondered if she needs more circulation in it and i would try anything to help improve her mobility. She is having physio once a week and hopefully that will help but she gets tired so quickly these days. I think the stress from the pandemic doesn’t help. I suppose if I find the most suitable massager and she feels no benefit from it I could just use it myself. Won’t be spending a fortune on one though!
Update!
I took a punt on the Revitive foot massager and my wife has been using it for a week now, every day for 30 minutes a time. I’m pleased to say she loves it. She was able to have the settings just as she likes it and I can see improvement in her (very limited) mobility. I was worried as I paid £199 for it and thought i would have to use it myself but it truly is ‘hers’ now. The recommended setting according to the manual is 40. My wife felt comfortable with it set on 30. It can go up to 99 apparently but I wouldn’t advise going that high as when I tried it my limit was 17! It has been worth the investment for us (well my wife for the moment but probably me too in the future) but I realise it might not be suitable for everyone.
Thanks for all your comments
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Hi,
I typed a reply a week ago but realise something went wrong and it didn’t post.
My MS nurse said it was worth a try as I have foot drop and very poor circulation in my left foot.
I bought one second hand so not so expensive. I found my feet were so cold and it didn’t make that much difference.
I’m so glad your wife likes it. Anything that helps is good.
I wear sheepskin boots, heat holder socks, use feet hot pads and I still have cold feet!
I sometimes take Nifedipine in the Winter as I’ve got secondary Reynauds which helps.
Alcohol also helps but I only have in moderation a few nights a week!! Ha.
Take care
Jen
Hi Jen,
Well the Revitive foot massager has been put away for the moment as my wife was suffering severe pain all down her left leg. She had a dvt 30 years ago and said that this pain was very similar. So I took her to the doctors for a blood test, it came back all clear but because of her history with dvt they sent her for an ultrasound. That was clear too. She was still very much in pain so the doctor prescribed antibiotics. They also found she had a urine infection. So we have had to cease with the massager for now just in case that was causing it. Like yourself my wife has really cold feet, particularly her left foot. While using the Revitive I noticed her feet felt a lot warmer, not hot but normal. They have gone back to being cold again since stopping treatment. I must say I like the idea of alcohol therapy 
Imagine how much I could have invested my £199 in? 
I was recently given a cheap foot massager, and it was pretty useless. It has discs that turn one way and each one has a series of rotating balls in it. The rotation was so strong that I had to forcibly hold my feet on it, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of relaxing. The vibration was so strong that I could still feel it 15 minutes after stopping. I do think it helped slightly with some swelling, but it’s just not worth the aggravation.
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I’ve tried this device. A long time ago, when I was on the massage in 강남안마, masseurs gave me this massager, and it was terrific. I’m not suffering from something serious, but as a precaution, I use it sometimes. And then I decide to buy it, so I am a lucky owner of a foot massager for now. But after my story, you anyway need to find more information about permissions and contraindications 'cause ain’t sure about your case. And need to admit about their cost, slightly overstated as for my opinion.
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The best leg massager is your hands.
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My mom also suffered a long time due to poor blood circulation from legs.
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My wife has Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and it certainly helps in keeping the feet in order. She’s commented several times about how much she likes the bob and brad foot massager. I guess I’ve earned a few points with her! I also found the machine easy to move around, so I can steal it back from her whenever I need to.
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My parents have a massage chair (not sure which one) and I like using it when I’m at their house, but I got a percussion massager for $130ish on here that gives more of targeted massage therapy. It’s great after exercise. I went to a massage place once, just felt weird, like I shouldn’t be there. I do enjoy them a lot when I test them out. I’d feel better about getting one if someone here had a good experience buying one of these. If someone could suggest one that is cheaper, even better.
Also had a huge massage chair from Sharper Imagine, had it for years then decided it takes up way too much room…with a chair I can do it every day! Multiple times!