3 Things You Should Be Aware of Regarding Ledderhose's Disease & Massage Therapy

There are a lot of different treatment options out there for Ledderhose's disease. However, most of the traditional treatment options available involve medication, radiation treatment, or surgery. 

If you're looking for a more natural treatment method that can help to alleviate the pain and discomfort of the condition, you may want to consider the potential benefits of massage therapy. For patients suffering from a minor case of Ledderhose's disease, massage therapy may successfully be able to treat the discomfort in an all natural way. For patients with a more severe case, massage treatments can complement other traditional treatment methods.

The following are three things you should be aware of if you're considering massage therapy as a treatment option for your Ledderhose's disease symptoms:

1. You should avoid putting pressure directly on any tumors that have developed on the feet.

Massage therapy that treats Ledderhose's disease symptom should consist of massaging the areas around tumors that develop. Applying pressure directly to tumors can make symptoms worse. 

During massage therapy, it's a good idea to work around tumors and also massage other areas of the foot. A complete massage treatment should include massaging up to the ankle and working the individual toe joints. 

2. Massage therapy should not only address pain caused by the condition itself, but also discomfort

Most patients who suffer from a significant amount of discomfort because of Ledderhose's disease will develop gait irregularities to take stress off of tender tumors on the bottom of their feet.

Changes in a patient's gait inevitably put stress on different muscles and joints. Over the long term, these gait changes can lead to posture problems and alignment issues in the back. 

Massage treatments should address both tumors resulting from Ledderhose's disease and chiropractic issues that result from abnormal postures and gaits the patient develops to compensate.

3. Eastern massage therapy techniques are often more effective than Swedish techniques

Two Eastern massage techniques that are particularly effective for treating Ledderhose's disease are shiatsu and reflexology.

These techniques are effective because the massage therapist focuses on how energy moves through the body when the patient is moving. Most of the pain of Ledderhose's disease results from the patient's movements, so shiatsu and reflexology tend to be ideal.

Also, Eastern massage techniques focus more on taking a whole body approach to physical ailments and lowering stress levels that can aggravate a patient's experience of discomfort.

For more information about which option is best for treating Ledderhose's disease, contact services like Dupuytren's Disease Support Group.