Pressotherapy

My experience of pressotherapy.

I love trying out new and alternative methods for my mind and my body. So when I saw the Centre For Positive Change post about a great new treatment they had, called Pressotherapy, which involves you putting on a strange looking suit, almost like a spacesuit, I had to give it a go. The suit uses an air pressure machine to inflate and it squeezes your arms, legs, or abdomen in a rhythmic motion, similar to a massage. It was both a strange but amazing experience. 

Pressotherapy

What is Pressotherapy

It’s a therapy that helps with lymphatic drainage. The description on the website says that “Pressotherapy is truly incredible and completely pain-free, leaving you feeling lighter & relaxed with a renewed sense of vitality and energy. It is perfect for helping alleviate tired aching muscles, fatigue, excess fluid, bloating and overall wellbeing; whilst improving blood circulation, and stimulating the vagus and lymphatic flow. In Addition, Pressotherapy can help reduce swelling, and cellulite and improve skin elasticity and tightness”

pressotherapy

Getting the pressotherapy suit on

All I knew was that you had to wear a strange looking suit, so when I rocked up to my session and saw this weird thing on the therapy bed. I started to feel quite excited. I like strange and different.

Scott explained to me what to expect and some of what would happen, he didn’t want to give away too much, so I kept looking and thinking “can I just get in and get started”.

I got myself ready, lay on the therapy bed and Scott asked me to stick my feet in these strange looking boots which he then proceeded to fasten around my legs, next was my lower body, followed by my upper body but only just below the chest. He then asked me to stick my arms into the long padded looking sleeves.

There was what I could only describe as a multi-plug socket cable,  like the kind you would get on a good quality hi-fi system. Scott proceeded to “plug me in”.

As part of the process you’re treated to a bit of red light therapy, which I’ve since found out can also help with depression, but helps combat fatigue, pain and so much more, so with my goggles already on, he put the light on and I closed my eyes and decided to let whatever happens to happen.

I began to feel the boots inflate, it was such a strange feeling. It was almost like someone was taking my toes and curling them around.

My Experience

In Reiki, I was taught what we call an Angel lift, where we gently lift the client’s feet off the bed, probably about a couple of inches, and this is how it felt as the legs started to inflate more.

It began to work its way up my body, deflating as one part inflated, then onto the arms. This continued for around 45 minutes. 

I don’t want to give too much away, but Scott leaves you to let your mind drift and just experience the whole thing. My mind raced all over the place, with lots of memories and images popping up. It was almost like a mental detox and my mind visualised images as if to tell me something.

Warrior

There was an image of a Native American holding what looked like a feather on a spear,
I remembered that I had this image in a deck of cards I have so looked it up when I got home, there was an image of what seemed like a large crystal ball with energy flowing through it. It was almost like a state of meditation or even hypnosis.

When my 45 minutes was up, Scott told me just to take it easy and start to come around. When I was ready he started to undo the suit and all I can remember was feeling so light, like a whole load of things has just been lifted off my shoulders. I felt as if I’d just come out of deep meditation and a wringer at the same time but I  felt so relaxed.

My Personal Benefits from pressotherapy

The following day I was a bit emotional, but to me that was fine, I’ve been going through some personal stuff, so it was like I was letting it go. I kept myself hydrated.

I have since noticed that the pain I was getting in my shoulder has gone completely, it has been bothering me quite a bit previously.

I’m not sure what I expected from the session, I wanted to see if it would help with my pain and it certainly did that. I’ll admit I’m not one for taking medication I’d rather find an alternative more holistic approach to dealing with my issues.

If you are struggling with aches and pains then this is definitely worth giving a go, plus you can reap all the other health benefits it has to offer. If you don’t have any aches and pains but are curious about it anyway then I would also recommend giving it a go. You won’t regret it.