In these “Case History” pages I’ll try detailing some of the cases I’ve taken on and the results I’ve had using Reflexology

TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) AND REFLEXOLOGY

I have been having very impressive success with two cases of traumatic brain injury. TBI is a very serious problem that is getting much more attention now because it is the "signature injury" of returning veterans from Iraq, and it's one that mainstream medicine has few answers for.

Case #1 is a young man who had anorexic brain damage in 1986 from some kind of wrong medicine they gave him in the hospital in Israel. He was in a coma for 7 months, and came out totally paralyzed, having lost the ability to read. Various physical therapy wonder workers had gotten him to the point that he could walk with an attendant holding his arm so he wouldn't fall (very poor balance) and could speak, although in a slow, difficult-to-understand drawl. I began working on him in October, 2006, and scheduled two sessions a week. At the end of the first session he was unable to get out of the La Fuma reflexology chair, and I had great difficulty supporting him and getting him up out of the chair. He was slow of speech - when he attempted any - and seemed confused.

At the second session he seemed more aware and vocal, and at the third session he confided that he had several small seizures each day. By the 6th session he was able to get out of the reflexology chair without assistance, and his seizures were becoming infrequent. After I suggested the seizures might be related to sugar balance he reported that he was free of seizures except when he missed a meal. I continued to do twice-a-week Reflexology sessions, and by the end of December he reported that he was much more secure in his walking, only needing his attendant nearby in case he lost balance, and I noticed that he was getting much more alert and articulate - we had long conversations during the Reflexology sessions about current events, etc. His speech seems to be quite normal now - although on the phone he sometimes slips back into his labored, drawling speech style.

Case #2 is a middle-aged woman who was severely injured in an auto accident 16 years ago. She was pronounced dead and taken to the morgue, but recovered - sort of. She was in a coma for months, and when she came out of it the doctors told her that she'd lost ¾ of her brain, and that she would never be able to "mainstream" - participate in normal society. They emphasized that strong family support was absolutely necessary for even partial recovery. She had no family support at all, and has spent 15 years fighting that diagnosis. She re-learned to read at the Rusk Institute, and took courses at the Open Center, creating a substitute family out of her psychotherapist, her health aid, and people at the Open Center and at Landmark Education, where she serves as a volunteer office worker.

Except for normal health problems to be expected for a middle-aged woman who drinks, smoked until the doctors told her she had emphysema, and is overweight, her problems are all psychological. But they are severe. (Drinking can be considered a TBI symptom. TBI people may have a low tolerance for alcohol, and self-medication by alcohol or drugs is very common.)

The doctors gave her a list of 14 symptoms common to TBI survivors, which included anxiety, depression, poor coordination, inability to focus, being fearful (of all sorts of things) hyper sensitivity, rigidity (can't handle changes) low confidence and self-esteem, "disinhibition" (speaking inappropriately) and redundancy (saying the same thing over and over). In her case - with no family support - there was also a complete loss of identity. She speaks about her "other life".

I first started working on her on Jan 26, 2007. I did a very light - mostly relaxation technique session, but noted that her brain reflexes were quite tender. When she came for her second session three days later she said she'd been badly discombobulated after our first session, and forgotten how to do the computer data input she normally does. Again, I did a light session. The next few sessions I concentrated on other issues (she had a sore shoulder, and I concentrated on shoulder and spinal work to clear that up) but each time did a little on the brain reflexes too

At her 5th session she said that her memories were coming back. She'd been able to remember some of her high school Spanish to communicate with her cleaning lady. At her 7th session she reported a breakthrough - she'd been able to stay home alone without having a panic attack and stressing out - the first time in 15 years. She reports that her friends say she seems less frazzled now, "more peaceful", "coherently present" "happier", "more patient", has a "peaceful aura". (Apparently this is very noticeable, since when she's frustrated she starts banging on the table, crying, swearing, shaking, etc.) Also, she says her sense of smell is coming back.

It's evident that TBI people may have a whole basketful of psychological problems, and this person is going to need pages and pages of more "breakthroughs" before she's done.

What's very noticeable about these two cases is the tremendous difference in their symptoms, and the way that Reflexology is effective in addressing both of them. In working on them both I've concentrated on the brain, spinal and endocrine reflexes, but I do the whole foot every time, in an effort to balance the body and its control systems. There aren't any magic spots, or if there are I haven't found them - just normal therapeutic Reflexology twice a week. (I'd do three times a week if I could manage it, and would expect it to be even more effective. There's a cumulative effect that is often lost in once-a-week sessions.)

I'm hoping to get the attention of whoever is responsible for treating the returning veterans and setting up some kind of program. Of course the veterans won't have any money to pay for Reflexology, but if we can demonstrate effectiveness we may be able to get some kind of grant.

Diabetes and Bad Sugar Management

With Reflexology we generally expect to clear up Type II diabetes if we can get the clients to come in three times a week and keep checking their sugar and consulting their doctor.  With Type I diabetes we don’t expect to clear it up, but rather to help with the accompanying symptoms.  (Nobody’s going to be cutting your feet off if you’re getting regular Reflexology.)  But I’ve always wondered – they don’t diagnose diabetes at birth – they pick it up when the child is four or five years old.  So what if you started working on the child then?  Could you so normalize the body that they never would be diagnosed?  And how could you know? 

I haven’t gotten to work on a pre-diabetic child yet, but a couple of years ago they brought me an 8-year-old boy.  He was a big child, bigger than his classmates, and somewhat plump.  His father was an athlete and assumed that if his son was “fat” there must be something wrong with him – nothing to take to the doctor, but maybe some Reflexology would help.  The boy was constantly whining for sugar (“Can’t we stop by the cookie place? Please? Can’t we stop?”) indicating a severe problem with sugar management.   

I told them that to clear up a condition they needed at least two sessions a week (although three would be better) so they paid for a series of 10 sessions and arranged for him to come twice a week.  I worked on him as I would for any sugar-management person, the whole foot, but extra on the pancreas, liver, adrenal and other endocrine, and spinal reflexes. 

When he came for his third session (second week) he told me that he’d taken his secret candy stash and thrown it down the air shaft at his apartment, where he wouldn’t be able to get it again, because he knew that it was bad for him and he realized that he no longer had to have candy.  He said he still liked candy, but now he no longer had to have it.  (When you have to have it, you have a secret stash whether it’s bad for you or not.)  In all, he did six of the 10 sessions his parents had paid for (kids get really fast results).  His complexion changed, his whole personality changed, and his parents said “okay, he’s fixed” and went off to vacation in Bermuda.  They never came back to finish up the sessions they paid for, but he’s an intelligent and responsible kid, so I figure he’ll stay off the sugar and be okay.

Unfortunately for the cause of science (but maybe fortunately for the child) he was never diagnosed, so I don’t know if he was hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemic (diabetes/high blood sugar).  Whatever it was, Reflexology seemed to clear up the problem.