How to Massage a Senior's Feet

Video Transcript

"Hi, in this section we're going to be talking about massaging the client's feet. Here I prefer to use lotion as oppose to oil. Oil can sometimes be messy and stain the sheets and you tend to have more control with the lotion especially when you're dealing with the feet. You don't want to be slipping off the toes and things like that. So I just apply about a quarter size amount of lotion, too much lotion and the feet are going to be slippery. I usually start with one foot and then go to the other. So here I'm going to start with the right foot, I just gently get the lotion applied and as you're applying it these are just gentle strokes that I'm using on the whole foot and the lower leg. Again, most strokes you want pushing the blood back to the heart, you don't want to be squeezing down towards the foot you want to squeeze back towards the heart. You help the veins get the blood back to the heart that way and it helps reduce some of the adeam or swelling which many elderly and ill patients suffer from, just from various reasons. So after we have the lotion applied, now we can start with some of the massage techniques. I like to incorporate some reflexology into the foot massage. So basically we start down here at the heel and if you don't have experience with reflexology, anything you do on the foot is welcomed just as long as it's gentle. You can work on the heel, work on the middle part of the foot, you can work on the ball of the foot, all of that is going to bring relief to the individual. We have spots on the foot that equal various parts of the body. For example the neck and shoulders are right here at the base of the toes and so if you're rubbing you just rub in that area, if you don't know reflexology that's fine. Just rubbing in that area helps bring a sense of relief to the neck and shoulders. If you see the person's foot starting to cramp or spasm on you, then again just gently relax the muscles. Hold the muscles till they start to ease up, because you don't want to person to start to get a cramp in their foot and they're not going to be able to enjoy the touch that you're providing them."