We gave up Thanksgiving dinner for this telegram . (Yes this was before the widespread of email or even faxes.) This telegram did the trick. Reflexology went on to become an important part of complementary and alternative medicine.
Showing posts with label alternative medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alternative medicine. Show all posts
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Saving Reflexology in the UK
We were shocked to learn in June of 1985 that there were plans to eliminate reflexology as a practice in the United Kingdom. The reason was that according to the authorities was that no scientific basis for reflexology.
We gave up Thanksgiving dinner for this telegram . (Yes this was before the widespread of email or even faxes.) This telegram did the trick. Reflexology went on to become an important part of complementary and alternative medicine.
We gave up Thanksgiving dinner for this telegram . (Yes this was before the widespread of email or even faxes.) This telegram did the trick. Reflexology went on to become an important part of complementary and alternative medicine.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Celebrities Who Have Used Reflexology- Dr. Oz
By David Berkowitz
Dr. Oz
Before his fame as a television host, reflexology piqued Dr. Oz’s interest in alternative practices and provided motivation to form the Complementary Care Cardiac Care Unit at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. As detailed in his book Healing from the Heart, he tried reflexology when patient Kory was not doing well following a heart operation.
“… Kory’s vitals were playing the ominous notes of Beethoven’s Fifth (on monitors at his hospital bedside). He looked as if her were about to die. …
Suddenly I remembered my father-in-law’s notions about lymphatics and foot massage. If it works for dogs (research showed influence on the lymphatic system from working on dogs’ paws), I thought, maybe it’ll work for humans.
So I moved around to the foot of Kory’s bed, and uncovered his feet, and without a word of explanation started to rub and squeeze them. Everybody stared—the other doctors, nurses, the whole team—wondering what on earth I was doing.
But in a few minutes Kory’s blood flows started rising from 21. liters per minute to 2.3 then up to 2.5, up and up. Whenever I quit squeezing, the blood flow would drop; when I started again they’d rise. So I kept it up for about forty-five minutes, squeezing, rubbing, kneading the soles of his feet, miking the lymphatics until his flows stayed up at a healthy level. Kory had just needed to be jump-started toward recovery.…
“Can I prove my amateur reflexology caused his turnaround? No, not on the basis of one case. But unless the trials we do in the future on reflexology prove otherwise, I believe what happened to Kory was not a coincidence.” (Oz, Mehmet, Healing from the Heart, Dutton, New York, 1998, pp 108-109)
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Celebrities Who Have Used Reflexology- Princess Diana
Georges Biard [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Princess Diana and Reflexology
Princess Diana received notable press coverage during her lifetime—including coverage of regular reflexology services, as many as three times a week. Press coverage included reports of Prince Charles, a long time advocate of alternative practices, reading reflexology books. For a brief period of time her sister-in-law Sarah Ferguson gained fame for a photographed toe-sucking incident with a paramour.
A collection of newspaper reports about Princess Diana and reflexology serve as both a commentary of the times and of her celebrity. Sadly, one published article tells of Princess Diana’s reflexologist selling letters from her after her death.
March 4, 2004, Jane Kerr, The Mirror (London)
“Letters written by Princess Diana to her reflexologist fetched pounds 26,000 at auction yesterday. … “The collection of 19 cards and notes to therapist Chryssie Fitzgerald express some of Diana's frustrations. … “They were sold separately and had only been expected to raise pounds 15,000. … “Most interest was in a letters dated October 1994 telling of her reaction to James Hewitt's revelations of their affair. … “Diana wrote: “Last week was the toughest yet. I did everything I could to keep myself above water.” … “Mirror columnist James Whitaker said the sale in Swindon, Wilts was another breach of trust.”
Aug. 1997, Diana, Commemorative Issue, Newsweek, “In the end Diana looked less like a royal and more like a sleek Manhattan socialite. For one thing she was well groomed. She got manicures and pedicures, had foot reflexology three times a week.”
Jan. 16, 1996 Star, “How She Got the Body to Die For,” Princess Diana is said to use “foot massage” to help maintain her figure.
Mar. 1996, Luxury Life-styles of the Rich and Famous, “Special Issue: Natural Health Remedies Stars Use - And They Really Work!, Plus the healing power of massage, aromatherapy, acupuncture, teas, reflexology and meditation,” “reflexology - Getting to the root of the problem,” Sub heading: Princess Di ‘Walking on air'’after royal rubdowns” “Princess Di believes that the way to good health is through her feet. She's reportedly sought the treatment of a London Reflexologist to help her with recurring back pain and with her bulimia battle. ‘She's been walking on air since she’s been getting the treatments for her aching back,’ said a palace insider.”
June 4, 1996 “Her (Princes Diana’s) daily beauty routine consists of gym workouts, reflexology, tennis lessons and professional blow drying sessions. Weight training has rearranged her physique, while it is rumored that plastic surgeons
and dentists have rearranged her proboscis and her smile. And then there's her well-documented fondness for high-colonics and aromatherapy treatments.” (“Her Royal Chicness
Princess Di Is More Of A Clotheshorse Than A Fashion Thoroughbred,” By Teresa Wiltz, Chicago Tribune)
June 7, 1994 Star, p. 6, “Secret Shopaholic, How Di blows $227,000 a year on clothes, hairdos, vacations and massages,” Among “Therapy” expenses listed for Princess Diana of England is “Reflexology (foot massage) weekly … $2657”
June 11, 1996, Star, “Learn Di's Beauty and Health Secrets from head to toe - inside out” by Judy Wade, “reflexology: For more than five years Diana has visited a Knightsbridge clinic run by Chryssie Fitzgerald for a foot massage to stimulate the blood supply and nerves to relieve tension. Cost: $50 an hour." p. 25
June 21,1994, Star, “Dashing Di,” “(Princess) Di had just come from a regular visit to a Chinese foot massage clinic in Beauchamp Place when she noticed she was attracting a crowd, so she made a run for her car.”
Nov. 1994, Vogue, It is reported that Princess Diana visits a reflexologist weekly.
Jul. 22, 1993, Evening Standard, “Confessions of a therapy junkie … As Princess Diana visits yet another alternative therapist, Caroline Phillips looks at why she, too, feels compelled to try every new treatment that comes along - no matter how bizarre,” Listed in a side bar “Diana's Guide to Alternative Therapy” is reflexology “Yesterday it was revealed that the Princess has been having her feet massaged, stimulating the blood supply and nerves and relieving tension.”
Jul. 22, 1993. Today, p. 7, “Body and Sole, Why Di’s feet are made for healing everything from backache to asthma” by Dominic Midgley, “Reflexology is the medical term for the secret tootsie-tickling session Di had undergone when she was pictured leaving the Oriental medical centre in Knightsbridge yesterday.” A reflexology chart is included in this article about Princess Diana as well as comments by customers and practitioners.
Jul. 22, 1993 Daily Express, “Princess puts her best foot forward at clinic” by Jack Lee and Annie Leask, Princess Di escaped from the cares of the world yesterday with a soothing foot massage. She went to a plush London clinic for a session of her favorite alternative - reflexology.”
Aug. 17, 1993 Globe, p. 23, “How Di’s Toe Jobs Heel All Her Ills,” A full color reflexology chart and a photo of a bare-footed Princess Diana accompany an article about the Princess and reflexology. “The thirty-two year old royal has been hot-footing it to her local reflexologist, who manipulates pressure points on her feet to five what ails her the boot …’But Diana's not the only one getting the rubdown - Fergie and the queen have tried it also.'’”
Aug. 22, 1993 Parade, p. 2, “Personality Parade,” A response to a question about Sarah Ferguson ends with the comment, "the fun-loving duchess continues to kick up her toes - when they're not being sucked by her wealthy friend from Texas, John Bryan.”
Aug. 29, 1993 Star, “Di Blows Her Top,” ”An incident with a photographer and Princess Diana is reported. Included is the comment “She also has reflexology treatments where therapists manipulate pressure points on her feet.”
May 28, 1991, Inside Edition (television), The British Royal Family is reported to have an interest in alternative health practices. Reflexology services are cited as giving Diana her energy.
Oct. 7, 1990, National Enquirer, p. 37, “As Marriage Crumbles & Pressure Builds ... Princess Di Becomes a Human Pincushion - in Bizarre Battle to Beat Stress,” In a desperate bid to beat stress, Princess Di has turned to several far-out treatments - reflexology, aromatherapy and a back-crunching form of Japanese massage called shiatsu . . Charles - a strong believer in holistic medicine and natural cures - suggested Di try an acupuncturist Besides the acupuncture and Japanese massage, Di also undergoes aroma therapy and foot massage, called reflexology.”
Mar. 6, 1989, Today (British newspaper), p. 26, “These feet were made for talking” by Sandra Parsons, A newspaper columnist samples the services of reflexologist Michael Keet. The Duchess of York, the Queen and Princess Diana are cited as “converts” to reflexology.
Aug. 1988, Ladies Home Journal, p. 162. “All about Fergie,” by Susie Pearson and David Thomas, The Duchess of York, the former Sarah Ferguson, is profiled. Included is a description of the Duchess and Princess Diana as clients of Joseph Corvo, “practitioner of the so-called discipline of Zone therapy. The treatment involves massaging fifteen specific nerve endings on the face which are said to revitalize eleven areas of the body.”
July 15, 1986, The Sun, p. 6, “How Prince Charles uses strange cures to stay healthy” by David Molina, “reflexology is a more recent practice the Prince has explored in his quest to stay healthy. It holds that the feet contain thousands of nerve endings which, when massaged, lessen pain or even promote healing.”
Unknown 1985, National Enquirer, “Charles & Di's Royal Rift: He's Become Obsessed with His Health, She Goes to Parties Alone” by Dan Schwartz, A review of Prince Charles’ health pursuits. “‘At the palace he has virtually ignored Diana during evenings to study books on reflexology - a fad therapy which involves ‘clearing the body's 10 vertical energy channels by massaging different areas of the feet. Charles is hooked on it.’”
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Kevin goes to the hospital—stories from the reflexologist at the foot of the hospital bed
Remembering back to my first reflexology hospital call—the client who had undergone surgery for stomach stapling due to morbid obesity—I wasn’t aware as I rolled the chair up to the foot of the bed after his surgery that his doctor had given him a 50-50 chance of surviving. His aunt was there, the loving relative who was also a nurse, watching my every move. She liked me personally but didn’t think too much of that “reflexology stuff”.
All I can say about her attitude is—the next time I visited, she rolled the chair up to the bed and folded back the covers. It turned out she had been monitoring his vital signs and they had improved after my previous visit. Dick survived the surgery and lived for another 20 years.
The point is that Dick needed the stomach stapling operation. But that very same operation could have killed him. Reflexology acted to be like a life perserver until his body could respond and normalize. What happened with no official sanctioning was a hybrid of medicine and reflexology.
The next time I made a hospital call it was at the request of the head of the Nursing Department at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. One of her graduate nursing students was in CCU (Cardiac ICU) for a heart attack and the heart attacks were continuing—in the hospital. It was the first time I could watch the heart monitor as I worked. I could see her pulse rate decline from 140 bpm to 70. She was asleep when I left.
She did have a blocked artery and there was a heart bypass surgery performed. She needed the operation but the reflexology helped stabilize her prior to the surgery. The surgery had a positive outcome.
Then there was the time my father-in-law was in ICU with congestive heart failure. His heart refused to go into a regular heart beat and they wanted to cut him open to shock his heart, hoping it would go into sync—something he definitely did not want to happen. Two hours after I left, the nursing staff noticed his heart dropped back into a regular rhythm where it stayed. No surgery was required.
I used to call it under cover work, visiting the hospital to do reflexology and hiding my work. But things changed dramatically over the years.
Many years ago my 6 year-old grand nephew was in pediatric ICU with flesh-eating bacteria attacking the pericardium protecting his cardiac muscle (23 days I would not want to re-live). It was life threatening. I worked on him day and night fighting to keep him alive.
I always stopped my reflexology work when the staff came in so I wouldn’t be in the way. One time as the doctor was leaving after a visit, she turned around to say, "Be sure to work the lung area."
With that, I knew then that times had changed for reflexology visits to the hospital. By the way, Jakey just turned 21. He needed both medicine and reflexology to survive.
Maybe it is time to build a hybrid between what medicine does well and what reflexology does well. In all these cases these people needed medical attention. But there is no reason it has to "be either or" medicine. In fact it is more like the "best of both worlds" medicine.
You could say it is a medical hybrid of sorts.
Barbara and Kevin Kunz
You could say it is a medical hybrid of sorts.
Barbara and Kevin Kunz
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Your Own Medical Hybrid: Reflexology and medicine
A hybrid of reflexology and medicine—an idea I like. And, as it turns out, it’s an idea that could work to help not only a loved one but also the health care budget.
What am I talking about?
Well, the medical community is starting to research and use reflexology, for example, post surgically—but it’s not yet available most places. So, I want to start my own medical hybrid with reflexology, helping friends and family as needed, working with assurance of positive results using the same research the medical community would use when it adopts reflexology.
The idea came to me as I was looking at exactly that—the research about reflexology undertaken for use within the medical community. What stood out were the number of studies for use of reflexology in medical facilities for patients in: post-operative recovery, labor/delivery/post partum care, and cancer care.
Hmmm, I thought, this sounds familiar. Been there, done that. Sitting in the hospital room, visiting a loved one just out of surgery, holding a hand—but really applying reflexology. So, now I’m looking at the research. What do I find? Reflexology helps post surgically with recovery, pain reduction, and lessened anxiety.
Hmmm, more thinking: What if everyone and anyone was reassured by research that he or she could help a loved one, providing reflexology and doing what the hospital would provide if only they had the money and knew about the research? What would it mean? Sitting helplessly by a hospital bed wanting to help would be a thing of the past? Money would be saved because hospital stays would be shortened?
It turns out I’m not the first to have this idea as shown by this on-line story. The individual wanted to help his friend be released from the hospital but first the patient had to defecate—standard for hospital release. He looked up a reflexology chart on-line, worked on his friend’s feet and, yes, the friend was released promptly. Exactly as the research had found—reflexology helps bowel and bladder functions return more quickly.
Barbara and Kevin Kunz
Barbara and Kevin Kunz
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Free Friday- Free Reflexology Stuff
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Tip
To have even better results with your clients give them "homework" to do. Self help can help bloost your results. Research has shown that frquency is very important for results in reflexology.
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