The North West MS Therapy Centre

Aromatherapy Massage:
The term Aromatherapy is used to describe a particular branch of herbal medicine. It is coined from two words "aroma" meaning pleasant scent and "therapy" meaning a treatment that aims to help a physical, emotional or psychological condition. Literally it means treatment using scents.The scents involved are not perfumes but the pure essential oils of plants valued for their therapeutic properties.

Treatment involves applying those oils to the body to improve the physical, emotional or mental health.Essential oils are the basic tools of aromatherapy. The oils, which are extracted from plants, can be used to treat all systems of the body to the individual’s needs ie disturbance of the mind and imbalances of the emotions. Massage is a favourite and most effective way to get essential oils, through the skin into the body by professional aromatherapists. Massage also increases the healing potential of the aromatherapy treatment. The medicinal properties of the oils and the nurturing power of touch combine to form a potent healing treatment. Massage can also be relaxing or energising, it soothes the nervous system, may boost the blood lymphatics and immune systems and improve physical and mental functioning. Not least among its benefits is the way it can ease pain and tension and relief spasm in the multiple sclerosis client.

Aromatherapy massage is available for all clients, at their request, in the MS Therapy Centre. Clients benefit psychologically and physically from feeling cared for since the treatment quickly produces a marvellous feeling of wellbeing. The power of touch or the physical effects of relaxation can include improved sleep patterns, decreased pain and muscle spasms as well as having a profound effect on their mood.A relaxing massage also produces a sense of optimism, reduces stress thus allowing the client cope better with their ailment.

Physiotherapy:
Physiotherapists specialise in the assessment and treatment of the movement problems that often affect persons diagnosed with multiple sclerosis eg muscle spasm, muscle weakness, joint stiffness, tremor, poor coordination, balance and mobilisation.The therapy aims to improve "quality" of movement so that persons with multiple sclerosis can function better as they go about
their daily duties. It also aims to prevent future complications such as contractions.

The treatment includes hands-on mobilisation of muscles and joints; active exercise programmes both on ‘dry land’ and in the hydrotherapy pool; balance and gait retraining; provision of mobility aids. Currently we offer 3 mat sessions and 1 pool-class session every week.

We also have a ‘moto-med’ and a standing table.The ‘moto-med’ is a piece of equipment similar to a bicycle except that it ‘passively’ moves the legs in a rhythmic motion – this works effectively in reducing muscle spasm. The standing table is used to allow those clients who spend most of their day in a wheelchair the opportunity to experience a sense of normal weight-bearing.

Physiotherapy services at the MS therapy Centre can be accessed by selfreferral, through your GP or through your neurologist.

Reflexology:
Reflexology is an ancient healing art that has been in existence for many thousands of years and was practised first by the Egyptians and Chinese. Foot reflexology is the study of the reflexes in the feet corresponding to all parts of the body.Working on these reflexes relaxes tension and helps the body to seek its own equilibrium.The reflexes in the feet are actually "reflections" of the body parts.The feet are the mirror of the body. Reflexology is a holistic therapy, that means it treats the whole person and it encourages the body to heal itself at its own pace.

On your first treatment at the Centre you have a preliminary talk with the therapist who will need to know all the usual details about your life style and medical history and then will start to work on your feet or hands if necessary.A reflexologist uses his/her hands to apply gentle pressure to the feet or the hands if preferred. Drugs or medication of any kind are never used.When tiny deposits and tension in the feet are detected those areas will be worked on to release the tension and restore the free flow of energy to the whole body. By releasing these tiny obstructions, toxins are eliminated and the circulation improved, bringing about a feeling of relaxation and well being.

The benefits of reflexology are many – it reduces:

tension and induces deep relaxation
reverses the effect of stress
allows the body to balance itself
increases circulation thus aiding the nervous system
cleanses the body of toxins
revitalises energy
useful in the preventative health care

Shiatsu and Sotai Therapy:
Shiatsu is a traditional Japanese body therapy meaning "thumb pressure". It aims to help rebalance the body’s energy or qi. Shiatsu uses influences to determine imbalances in the body the main one being a traditional Chinese medicine theory, whose history stretches back to the beginnings of acupuncture 4,000 years ago.

The treatment involves the use of gentle pressure, with thumbs, hands, feet or elbows while stretching and manipulating the body.This stimulates the flow of energy and helps the healing process in a similar way to acupuncture, but without needles.The treatment is facilitated on a fouton (a Japanese sleeping mat) on the floor while fully clothed.

A Shiatsu treatment is often accompanied by another Japanese physical therapy called Sotai. Sotai brings about muscular relaxation by harmonising the body’s breathing and movements, made within its natural limits or range of motion. Movements are performed in the direction away from discomfort and pain, helping to restore the body’s energy, leaving it more flexible while at the same time inducing deep relaxation.

Hyperbaric Oxygen - Oxygen Therapy:
Oxygen therapy simply means increasing the concentration of just the same oxygen we breathe normally in air.A hyperbaric chamber is needed to allow the pressure around the body to be increased.We all live under the pressure of the atmosphere and the extra pressure required for this treatment is small.The technology is very well established - all commercial aircraft are hyperbaric chambers equipped with oxygen breathing systems!

Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy has a hundred year history, but doctors have only recently recognised that even when the level of oxygen in the blood is normal there can be a severe deficiency in the tissues. Now that the science is understood this use of oxygen is expanding rapidly around the world.

How breathing more oxygen helps:
The air that we breathe usually provides enough oxygen for both normal body metabolism and the repair of tissue damaged after injury or illness. However, tissue damage or disease also involves the blood vessels within the tissue and may reduce blood flow. So, just when more oxygen is needed, the supply is reduced and recovery may be limited or even prevented. By increasing the concentration of oxygen in the blood more can be delivered to damaged tissue to establish normal oxygen values and so allow recovery to take place.

Chiropody/Podiatry Service
Podiatrists, also known as chiropodists are professionals who specialise in the lower limb and foot health. Chiropodists play a key role in education, prevention and treatment of skin and nail problems, joint pains and biomechanical disorders.

The chiropodist offers advice on how to take care of your feet from buying new footwear to foot hygiene including recognising the symptoms of unhealthy feet and nails. Multiple Sclerosis is a disorder that affects the nerve ends, damage to the nerves in the feet can lead to uncomfortable or painful feet or a loss of sensation. People suffering from multiple sclerosis may also have added complications such as diabetes, arthritis, or poor circulation. For these reasons, even small problems like cuts or abrasions may lead to more serious conditions, thereby highlighting the importance of taking care of your feet.

The chiropodist in the MS Therapy Centre is available to offer practical foot care advice and everyday tips which will leave your feet feeling wonderful.

Diet and Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Many special diets have been put forward as helpful to people with MS but there is little other than anecdotal evidence to suggest that any have a real beneficial effect on the condition. Many of them can have a very negative impact resulting in nutrient deficiencies, malnutrition and increased risk of both infection and pressure sores.

As with everyone else, people with multiple sclerosis benefit from eating a healthy, varied, balanced diet choosing low fat foods and eating plenty of fruit and vegetables. It is important to avoid excess weight gain/loss to minimise the side effects of multiple sclerosis. Some side effects of multiple sclerosis including constipation, bladder problems, fatigue and swallowing problems will benefit from dietary modification.

You can access a very useful publication on diet and multiple sclerosis at www.mssociety.org.uk If you are experiencing any difficulties which you think could benefit from changing your diet you should seek referral to see a dietician either via your GP/ hospital consultant or via the MS Therapy Centre.

Occupational Therapy:
The aim of occupational therapy is to enable and assist people to overcome or live with a disability and enabling them to remain integrated members of their local community.The HSE North Western Area provides or arranges a wide range of therapy and support services including occupational therapy. All individuals with disability may apply or be referred and receive a service from an occupational therapist. Individuals requesting or referred to occupational therapy will receive an assessment by an occupational therapist in their home to determine what their needs are. Each person’s situation is unique and we carefully consider each request for support.We look at the individual’s particular difficulties, together with their personal circumstances and their environment and measure the effect these have on a person’s independence and well-being.

During assessment five important areas are considered:

The ability to manage personal and other daily routines
Health and safety including freedom from harm and neglect
Involvement in family and wider community life including work, education, leisure and transport
Ability to manage within environment
Individual’s choice

The community occupational therapy service is usually provided in the individual’s home but we do see people in day service, residential units, respite, work place and other locations.

Counselling
When illness comes into our lives, either as a visitor or more permanently, it usually challenges us, and the resources we have within ourselves to take in this new reality; to learn to live with it and eventually come to some acceptance around it and the many changes it may bring.When a person has been newly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, many feelings surface both within the person who has been diagnosed and in their families.The person may experience many emotions including numbness, panic, disbelief, helplessness, fear, and anger when first faced with Multiple Sclerosis or with new symptoms at other stages. Experience and support from others can enable them to identify and understand their feelings before they reach disturbing levels. Indeed it is often a relief to be allowed to be with whatever is happening emotionally and to feel the impact of this change in health. Giving voice to feelings, thoughts and fears about MS can help to eventually find new and better ways to live with the condition.

An early part of counselling is about creating a relationship of trust and safety in which the person with MS is free to experience and open up the variety of feelings and thoughts, in the knowledge that they will be supported with understanding and without judgement through the difficulty of putting what is happening to them into words. It is often a relief to be allowed to do this as such feelings can be overpowering and when allowed to be spoken and felt can often lose their power to overwhelm.Talking to someone who is objective and outside the family situation, and who has the skills to enable this to take place at a pace that is suitable to the particular person, allows the
client to find a space for their own reactions to MS and then they may not feel they are burdening their families.

People often request counselling at times of crisis or change, when they are likely to find themselves in a state of uncertainty or insecurity to a painful degree, which holds them back from moving forward, and adapting to the changed circumstances in their lives. Such suffering is particularly likely to arise when there is an overload of stress around, such as times of bereavement, illness, loss of employment, breakdown in relationship or any other situation that disrupt the previous pattern of life.This service is available at the Multiple Sclerosis Centre by appointment.

Speech and Language Therapy at the Multiple Sclerosis Centre:
Speech and language therapists are health workers who are trained to assess and help with communication and swallowing. If speech problems are affecting your ability to communicate or you are concerned about the clarity of your speech, you should seek advice from a speech and language therapist who will arrange to have you assessed.You may be able to use techniques designed to make your speech clearer. Should you continue to have problems you may be offered training in other forms of communication to help with or replace speech.The assessment for a communication aid can be complex, and a team assessment is required.We liaise with technical services in the Central Remedial Clinic via a video link, to ensure that we have access to the full range of available aids.

If you have significant problems communicating, the speech and language therapist should talk to members of your family, your carers and all the people with whom you have to communicate on a regular basis so that you can be helped in the best way possible. Swallowing difficulties can arise if MS affects the nerves that control swallowing.This is important because if food or drinks go down "the wrong way" and cause choking, it may lead to chest infections.You should be seen by a physician and rehabilitation team when a problem with swallowing last for more than a few days.The speech and language therapist will carry out an assessment.This may involve an x-ray of your swallow function on a variety of consistencies of foods and drinks.

Advice on specific postures and /or swallowing techniques may be given and how to make changes to your diet or the consistency of your food. The physician will consider the assessments from the dietician, physiotherapist and occupational therapist along with the SLT findings. Sometimes tube feeding may be needed, especially if the patient continues to get a lot of chest infections. Many of these people use a dual system, eating as much as they can in the normal way and supplementing the balance of nutrients and fluids using the tube.You can self-refer for communication assessment, but require a doctor’s referral for swallow assessment.

Incontinence and Multiple Sclerosis:
Urinary incontinence affects one of every four people with multiple sclerosis, severity varies from mild urgency problems to leakage and uncontrollable wetting. Safe effective treatments exist for the 25% of multiple sclerosis patients who experience incontinence.The bladder stretches to store urine until its stretch receptors transmit a message to the brain that the bladder is getting full and is ready to empty, the brain instructs the bladder to either release its contents or to hold on for a more appropriate place and time in which case the pelvic muscle tightens. In the meantime however, the kidneys continue to send urine to the bladder, which continues to send increasingly urgent messages to the brain. Largely automatic, this complex system depends on the constant transmission of messages up and down the spinal cord. Multiple Sclerosis may cause these communication channels to become fuzzy or blocked leading to bladder problems such as incontinence.

One or all types of incontinence may occur in patients with multiple sclerosis, for example, stress urinary incontinence, overactive bladder and functional incontinence.

What can a multiple sclerosis patient do to minimise the symptoms of urinary incontinence? Certain dietary changes may help, as it is believed that some foods and beverages may aggravate urinary incontinence in certain individuals, items containing caffeine, alcohol, citrus, certain spices and artificial sweeteners should be limited or eliminated.

On the other hand certain beverages i.e. cranberry juice and apple juice are thought to be less irritating to the bladder and may reduce the risk of incontinence.

Lastly some tips to try before bedtime. Peak urine production takes place at night when the body is at rest, reducing fluid intake during the evening hours basically after supper can reduce incontinence.

Bus Service

Our bus provides local service on Mondays and Friday to Sligo town and Riverstown.

On Tuesdays it travels to Ballina, while on Wednesdays it goes to Bundoran, Cliffoney and Grange.

It also travels to Manorhamilton on Thursdays. voluntary

Other voluntary organisations also run bus services to the MS Therapy Centre.

Back To Top