Health and medical information

‘In the vast majority of the people I treat,’ says a former nurse turned reflexologist, ‘by the time I get to the second foot, their heads are nodding.’ Reflexology is yet another complementary

therapy that provides deep relaxation as well as therapeutic treatment for a number of ailments. Its origins are very old: an Ancient Egyptian wall painting shows two people having their feet treated. Reflexology was rediscovered in the 1920s by an American physician Dr William Fitzgerald, and is growing in popularity today.

Like acupuncture, it is based on the theory that there are channels of energy flowing through the body. These channels are not identical, yet both therapies are effective — which is one of those mysteries of alternative medicine. In the case of reflexology, there are ten channels, which can be tapped into through specific reflex zones in the feet and hands. The feet themselves represent a kind of map of the body, with the big toes relating to the head and neck, and the bony side of the foot to the spine; reflex points for the liver, kidneys and other organs are found in the soft part of the arch, and so on.

Reflexologists are trained to sense energy blockages in the feet, and massage techniques to unblock them, stimulating the energy flow, and encouraging the body to heal itself. Some patients can actually sense the energy in the part of the body relating to the point on the foot being treated; it can feel like a mild electric shock.

You may be treated sitting up or lying down. The practitioner will give a complete treatment to both feet, and then focus on any problem areas. For insomnia, particular attention is likely to be given to the head area, including the pituitary gland (the master gland of the hormonal system) and to the adrenals, which may be overworked by stress. The solar plexus (about a third of the way down the sole of the foot) is another point that is likely to receive extra attention, and you may be asked to breathe deeply while it is being treated; this is excellent for stress.

Reflexology is particularly good for conditions involving congestion — sinusitis, migraine, asthma, a sluggish liver, fluid retention and so on. Sometimes people treated for such conditions experience a reaction as their bodies throw out toxins, possibly in the form of vomiting or diarrhoea, after which they feel very much better and clearer.

Reflexology is also good for releasing emotional congestion, especially when the therapist is receptive and a good counsellor. The reflexologist quoted in the first paragraph treated a woman who had been sleeping badly and feeling generally stressed since the recent death of her mother. During her mother’s illness she had held back her emotions in order to be ‘strong for the family’. After two treatments she found herself in floods of tears; the reflexologist reassured her that this was absolutely right and healthy: there had been an emotional build-up which needed to be released. The client understood the sense of this; following this episode she slept much better.

On the whole, treatment is fairly painless; now and again pressure on a particular site of trouble can hurt, but this does not last. Reflexology is in fact very good for the relief of chronic pain, possibly more effective than drugs and without the side effects. It is also helpful for hormonal imbalances and a variety of problems that may be affecting your sleep; after a treatment most people sleep extra well. As with other natural therapies, a course of several treatments will be needed to bring about a lasting effect, and patients can help themselves by following their practitioner’s recommendations about diet and so on.

Reflex Zone Therapy, which works along very similar lines, is taught to and practised by qualified nurses and physiotherapists. Used in a maternity unit, it has been found particularly beneficial for post-birth problems, such as wind, and difficulty in passing urine. One new mother who was suffering from tension because of domestic problems asked for a sleeping tablet; since she needed to wake easily should her child need attention during the night, she was offered Reflex Zone Therapy instead. She was asleep before the treatment was complete, and woke six hours later to feed her baby

Self-help

While it’s not really feasible to treat one’s own feet, you can learn from books to treat your hands, which contain a similar map of the body. Look out, too, for weekend or evening courses.

You can buy knobbly sandals claiming to give your feet a treatment while you walk around, but beware of wearing them for too long, which can over-stimulate the reflex zones and deplete your energy.

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Manipulative techniques can often help insomniacs, and not only by relieving pain in the back or other joints; treatment can be an excellent stress reliever. Insomnia, headaches, migraines and general tension are, for example, often caused or exacerbated by problems in the vertebrae of the neck, which both the osteopath and the chiropractic can relieve or cure.

Both these methods of treating the musculo-skeletal system (the bones, muscles and joints) are becoming increasingly accepted by orthodox medicine. The two therapies were evolved independently in America towards the end of the nineteenth century, and there are variations between them, although some techniques are common to both. There are also variations between the techniques used by practitioners from different training schools.

This is particularly the case with chiropractic: members of the British Chiropractic Association have undergone a full-time four-year course which is medically and academically oriented and now has degree status; many take their own X-rays. Members of the Institute of Pure Chiropractic have trained at the part-time McTimoney School, whose teaching is based on a very gentle but effective technique developed by an Englishman, John McTimoney; as well as training in anatomy and physical techniques, the school encourages the development and use of the intuition.

Both osteopathy and chiropractic are based on the principle that the health of the spine has a profound effect on overall well-being. The spinal cord is an extension of the brain, and connects with all the organs of the body via the circulatory and nervous systems. So although people generally seek these therapies for back and joint pain, they can be beneficial for a wide range of problems as diverse as asthma, migraine, indigestion, hiatus hernia, pre-menstrual tension and so on. Some practitioners are good counsellors; some also take a particular interest in nutrition, and can advise you on diet and supplements, particularly those who have also trained in naturopathy.

Adjusting the vertebrae is not usually painful, and the effects can be extremely relaxing. One woman who had barely slept for four years after injuring her neck in a car accident eventually visited a chiropractor; after treatment she fell asleep for several hours, and subsequently returned to a normal sleep pattern.

Nowadays quite elderly people are turning to these therapies for help with arthritic and back pain with good results. Manipulation may not cure the arthritis, but it can relieve the pressure on arthritic joints and improve the circulation of blood around them, helping to remove toxic waste. Practitioners have a variety of techniques at their disposal, as well as, or instead of, actual manipulation which might be over-traumatic for the old or those in very severe pain. Soft tissue techniques (specific ways of massaging the muscles) also help to realign joints, relax over-tense bodies, and boost the circulation of blood and lymphatic drainage.

A woman in her forties went to an osteopath specifically for her insomnia; for about a year she had been waking at three in the morning, only falling asleep again when it was nearly time to get up. She was not under any special stress, but was overweight and suffered from indigestion. The osteopath first treated her for muscle tension and restriction in the shoulder girdle; in the next two months, as these tensions relaxed, she began to return to normal sleep. The osteopath then went on to treat her back, pelvis and abdomen, relieving her other problems of indigestion and painful periods.

Cranial osteopathy, or cranio-sacral therapy

This is an extremely gentle approach to manipulation practised by some osteopaths and chiropractors. It is based on the connection between the cranium (the skull) and the sacrum, the shield-shaped bone at the base of the spine.

Practitioners often work simply by placing a hand gently on the relevant parts of the spine, relieving tensions and encouraging the flow of cerebro-spinal fluid, which nourishes the spinal cord. This is extremely relaxing in itself, as well as curative. They may also treat the skull and jaw, often an area of much tension.

Cranial treatment can be very helpful for both babies and mothers after a difficult birth. A cranial check-up after birth might prevent a lot of ‘inexplicable’ problems in babies.

A number of cranial osteopaths are very intuitive, and can tune into the emotional origins of their patients’ pain, helping to heal mind and body simultaneously.

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