Pneumatic massage apparatus for treatment of edema and method for massaging patient's body with the apparatus

A method for massaging at least one of an arm and a leg of a patient, the method comprising:

• providing a massage device to be fitted to wrap around at least one of an arm and a leg of a patient and having a plurality of air chambers disposed in series in a proximal direction from a distal position of the at least one of an arm and a leg toward a center of a body of the patient when the massage device is fitted around the at least one of an arm and a leg;
• and a compressed air control unit configured to supply compressed air into the plurality of air chambers to pressurize them, and discharge compressed air from the plurality air chambers to depressurize them;
• wrapping the massage device around the at least one of an arm and a leg;
• pressurizing the air chambers with the compressed air control unit;
• and
• depressurizing the pressurized air chambers with the compressed air control unit in such a manner that, of any pair of mutually adjacent ones of the air chambers, a proximal air chamber of the pair first starts to be depressurized, and then a distal air chamber of the pair starts to be depressurized.