Woodbridge Massage Therapist Studies Phantom Pain

Diane Arzinger explains that aromatherapy uses aromatic essential oils to promote healing and stress reduction, but could it also treat phantom pain experienced by amputees?

The Woodbridge resident, who practices massage therapy at Balanced Bodies on Plains Road in Milford, has designed a research study to find out.

The research project is a requirement for an aromatherapy course by R. J. Buckle Associates that Arzinger has enrolled in at Stamford Hospital.

She said amputees can report the exact finger or toe where they feel the phantom pain even though the entire limb is absent. There are several theories, but no consensus among medical experts on what causes it.

Arzinger hopes to enroll test subjects to see if aromatherapy, a form of alternative medicine, has any affect on phantom pain. Subjects will keep a journal on the pain sensation before, during and after receiving aromatherapy treatment.

She said she is still seeking up to 12 amputees to join the study.

Arzinger has worked in the alternative medicine field since 1990, when she graduated from the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy in Newington.

She previously studied physical therapy at Quinnipiac University, but was dissatisfied that physical therapy had to be prescribed by a physician.

Massage therapy reduces stress, boosts the body’s immune system and aids healing from wounds and illness, she said.

Arzinger also specializes in cranial-sacral therapy and touch therapy, two related forms of alternative medicine.

"I’ve been doing massage for about 20 years," she said.

The essential oils used for aromatherapy are extracted from plants. Oils from different plants have different healing properties. Arzinger said some have been used to reduce tension and stress, or relieve depression, or to heal burns and wounds.

She believes the oils act on the brain and the central nervous system, so they might relieve phantom pain.