Care homes use snake massage to reduce anxiety in elderly

Snakey Sue (aka Susan Coleman) is a snake enthusiast who believes snake massage is an untapped therapy offering benefits for people needing care.

Snakey Sue has taken snakes to visit the elderly and disabled in care homes, day centres and hospitals around the country and is keen to spread the message that the magic touch of snakes can have benefits that many people do not fully appreciate.

“Snakes have a bad reputation and people fear them”, says Snakey Sue.

“The public perception of snakes is they are dangerous, bite you and squeeze you. Films like 'Snakes on a plane' don’t help. But I like to educate people about what they’re really like.”

'People don't want to give the snakes back!'

The 70-year-old who has given talks throughout the country about the benefits snakes can bring, began her unusual business in 1994. She explains it plainly.

“When I bring snakes into a care home, I’m usually booked for an hour but I’m there for another 30 minutes because people don’t want to give the snakes back!”

“There is a vagus nerve in the back of the neck and when that gets manipulated with a snake lying on it, the pressure on the neck affects the whole body in a healing way.”

The vagus nerve communicates motor and sensory impulses to every organ in your body. It is part of a circuit that links the neck, heart, lungs, and the abdomen to the brain.

Since the fifth century B.C. snakes have been associated with healing because their skin releases endorphins and oxytocin in humans.

Research reveals vagus nerve stimulation boosts memory

A University of Virginia study in rats showed that stimulating their vagus nerves strengthened their memory. The action released the neurotransmitter norepinephrine into the amygdala, which consolidated memories.

Other studies done on humans suggested possible treatments for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. Research has suggested it may also treat chronic inflammation.

“People tell me they’re just so therapeutic. I think it definitely makes people including the elderly and those with special needs more calm, engaged and focused. It’s a silent pleasure.

“Snakes don’t demand anything like cats and dogs. The snakes are getting stimulated by being out of their ‘prisons’.

“People give off an energy, which the snakes pick up on and the snakes transfer their own energy back. They can be in contact with someone and transmit calmness to the person."

Snakey Sue has 30 snakes but once owned as many as 70. She has a licence to take her snakes out to the public and has completed a risk assessment. Snake massage is popular in several countries around the world and she has made friends with a snake masseur in the US who goes by the name of 'Serpentessa'.

Serpentessa regularly sees clients for a snake massage at the Wholeness Center in New York. You can watch one of Serpentessa's snake massages in the video below.

In the UK, Snake Sue has been happy to let people sit quietly with a snake on their lap and let one drape itself over their shoulders.

She says all 30 snakes of her "have different personalities".

She has two albino Burmese pythons named Rose and Bou, four boa constrictors, seven Kenyan sandboas, seven corn snakes, one carpet python, two rainbow boas, five Royal pythons and two king snakes.

Every six months, she buys £300 worth of dead mice and rats of different sizes to keep her snakes fed well.

Sizzle the corn snake is the naughtiest

Her collection of snakes are mostly rescue snakes. She says there’s only one snake she has to keep an eye on.

‘Sizzle’ a bright red corn snake has “a tendency to wriggle away fast” and so she knows he cannot be trusted.

When asked when her fascination with snakes began, Mrs Coleman says it started when she was 12 years-old.

“My mum and dad took me to the Isle of Wight zoo and a man asked ‘Would anyone like to hold it?’ I ran forward and I’ve loved them ever since.”

Snakey Sue's passion for her slippery friends runs high. Her first date with her husband took place at a zoo, with the zoo’s reptiles looking on. She has even performed snake dances.

A self-confessed snake evangelist, she firmly believes attitudes to snakes must change. She urges all to let snakes work their brand of magic on the elderly, the disabled and those with special needs living around the country.

“Everyone loves dogs and cats but I would urge everyone to come and have a feel of a snake, let the snake lie on you, enjoy the experience.”

To contact Snakey Sue visit her website sue@snakeysue.com

If you are looking for a job in a care home, click here