Spinal Cord Injury & Arapal AMT®

Daily circulation therapy at the touch of your finger

It is a well-documented fact that the main ingredient of the human body is water.  Our cells are filled with it, our muscles and fibres are surrounded by it, and our food and wastes are transported by it.  Even the chemical reactions that create life and movement take place in the fluid state so a healthy body requires a healthy circulation systems. When a person has a disability or an injury that makes them still, that reduces the range of movement at any joint, or makes them move in a biomechanically inefficient way, there will be areas within their body that struggle to move lymphatic fluid away from the cell wall, which is the primary cause of constant pain.

Daily therapy that focuses upon the health of the circulation systems is one way for the individual with spinal cord injuries to optimise their chances of physical quality of life in the long term.

Circulation Systems

The body uses two systems to keep the fluids within it circulating – the arterial and the lymphatic.  The arterial system is contained within the arteries and veins, and uses changes in pressure created by the heart to pump fluid around the body. The lymphatic system, which  contains 3 times more fluid than the arterial system, includes all of the fluid outside the cells, arteries and veins.  It is the lymphatic system that the Arapal AMT® massage units benefit the most.

Lymphatic Drainage

Rather than a pump, the lymphatic system uses a complex construction of one-way valves that always feed toward the heart. Fluid is pushed through to the next valve either because of pressure created by muscles and fibres sliding over each other as a body part is moved, or by changes in pressure created by waste products and excess tissue fluids being pushed out from the cells into the spaces surrounding them.  This system provides the ‘oil’ for the body for as long as there is new fluid entering the spaces between the muscles and fibres, they will move smoothly over each other.  The most efficient way to keep this system healthy is to regularly move every joint in the body through the full range that it was designed to be moved in, and/or to ensure that every cell is active and being supplied with oxygen-rich blood.  A cell that is being fed is both fluid and excreting waste, and as the waste product is excreted the lymphatic fluid sitting beside the cell wall is forced forward and into the next one way valve. 

Arapal AMT®Therapy

The Arapal AMT® mechanical massage system promotes lymphatic circulation (while the recipient relaxes) by fitting especially designed motors into portable units, chairs or beds.    The motors generate three-dimensional pulses that cause every particle they contact to rotate upon its own centre of gravity in a way similar to the vortex energy systems that we see in nature such as the tornado or the whirlpool. The movement that it induces in the cell is natural.  The machine provides the energy to get the cells active, and as the activity increases the cells excrete extra waste products and demand more circulation to feed them.  This moves the lymphatic fluid in that area effectively giving the body a ‘grease and oil’ change.  By creating activity within the cells of the muscles the unit also benefits the arterial systems.  When a muscle is active it becomes more fluid - visualise what happens when you shake a cold, glued up bottle of tomato sauce as this is effectively what happens to the state of our muscles when we exercise[1].  A muscle in this fluid state places less pressure on the tiny arteries and veins that service it; which effectively improves the arterial circulation without having to increase the pressure provided by the heart.  In addition, arteries and veins travel within the lymphatic fluids. The more efficiently the lymphatic fluid flows, the easier the arteries and veins within it can function.  Simply by inducing relaxation and increasing circulation, pain, and many other conditions can be greatly relieved. 

Spasticity and Movement

Cerebral spasticity is a movement-dependent condition that impacts upon motor control and creates restrictions to the range in some or all of the joints.  Spinal spasticity can be tension and posture related and also creates restrictions in the range of movement of some joints.  The more spasticity of any type contained within the muscles, the larger the challenge on movement dependent lymphatic drainage.  In addition the resistance provided by spasticity increases the tightness of the muscles that are affected by it in every case.  Tight muscles challenge the ability of the tiny blood vessels contained within them to work and as the person ages and becomes tighter less and less blood vessels contained within the spastic muscles can work effectively.

Immobility and lymphatic drainage

If any of the muscles of the body are paralysed lymphatic drainage is a problem because movement of the lymphatic fluid surrounding the muscles of the body is largely dependent upon movement of the muscles.  When a person has a spinal cord injury this process is no longer an easy option as manual manipulation of every joint of the body takes too long to be a practical every day option, and it would soon exhaust the caregivers or movement therapists involved.  To give the individual the option of long term quality of life they need to address the lack of movement in their body and the effect that has upon the speed of degeneration of the muscles in the long term.

Arapal AMT®and Spinal Cord Injury

The joy of effective mechanical massage for the individual with spinal cord injury is that it has a beneficial effect on both circulation systems without requiring manual manipulation of the body.   Clearing the lymphatic fluid from within the tissues is one of the primary aims of physiotherapy, deep tissue massage and movement based physical therapies recommended as interventions for people with spinal cord injuries.   The wave induces a state of activity within the muscles that gets them into exercise state and therefore producing waste products and increasing movement due to the arterial system by making it move more. As there is no change in muscle length spasticity is not activated, and instead of being challenging and disabling, conditioning the circulation system of a person with a spinal cord injury can be relaxing and enjoyable. 

Arapal AMT® wave and PACT exercise therapy

This therapy is an exercise so drink more water, but it cannot be overused as the machine merely acts as a catalyst for the body to initiate its own natural processes to induce healing.  Every Olympian is a living example of our body’s ability to endure excessive training and conditioning and this is not an Olympic exercise.  Arapal AMT® Therapy as a passive exercise will not adversely affect the body, no matter what physical state that body is in.  Quite the opposite in fact as by enhancing the body’s ability to drain lymphatic fluid every day the person improves their potential for quality of health in the long term. 

It is very important to note that Arapal AMT® alone is a maintenance therapy. The machine will not cure what is causing the circulation problems that the individual has, merely enhance and condition certain aspects of the systems.  It can be used as an excellent tool to increase the effectiveness of any form of physical training and it is for this reason that I have chosen to use it in PACT, a form of therapy that trains the nervous system to release and lengthen unnecessary or ineffective postural tightness.  PACT introduces daily postures and movements that maintaining length and strength in the muscles of the body that keeps the pressure off the joints that they cross, the cause of so much pain and degeneration. By ensuring that the muscles are oiled, stretched, and ready to move before and while they are being used, the individual is less likely to injure themselves and the session itself should be more effective because the body is ready to receive it.  This has been the case in my experience with the Arapal AMT® wave. 

Pain Management Systems NZ

These massage systems are produced by Pain Management Systems NZ, and designed by Arapal technologies, both Christchurch-based companies that have been operating the South Island and Australia for many years.  The systems that they have developed are innovative and adaptable and can be used effectively and easily by people with disabilities and their primary support people.   The company take pride in the quality of the chairs, beds massage pads and hand units produced and the research and development team are always keen to look at new projects.