RELIEF OF RESIDUAL LIMB PAIN WITH MASSAGE THERAPY: A CASE STUDY

Limb loss is a life challenging experience and required a holistic approach to restore patients physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. One of the common horrible experiences among amputees is residual limb pain. Massage therapy has been shown to benefit people who have had amputation surgery, managing chronic pain, enhancing performance, alleviating depression, and improving quality of life. This case study was to assess the effectiveness of massage therapy in the relief of residual limb pain. A total of Nine (9) amputees were involved in this study. These patients are the amputees who were currently experiencing different levels of residual limb pain. Patients were given adequate information regarding how to express their pain levels using the scale of 1-4, 0 indicating no pain, 1 indicating mild pain, 2 indicating moderate pain, 3 indicating severe pain, 4 indicating excruciating pain. Each patient’s pain levels were assessed with this scale. Massage therapy was initiated for 15 minutes for seven days. Their pain levels of participants were assessed based on their perceived change in pain levels on the same scale. Before the application of the massage therapy, 7 patients reported severe pain in the residual limb while the remaining 2 patients reported moderate pain. After a period of seven days application of massage therapy, their pain levels were assessed using the same scale. 3 participants graded their pain level as 1 indicating mild pain while the other 6 patients graded their pain levels as 0 indicating no pain. Further massage therapy was given, for two days, to the two patients who reported mild pain after the initial massage therapy. Their pain level was assessed after the therapy; the two patients reported no pain. This case study has shown that the massage therapy can be an important measure to manage residual limb pain among amputated patients.