Is it possible for therapeutic reflexologists to guarantee the results or outcomes of therapeutic reflexology treatments? This post will look into this question.
The obvious answer is no, therapeutic reflexologists cannot guarantee results or outcomes of therapeutic reflexology sessions. Similarly, medical doctors nor physiotherapists nor any other healthcare professional can guarantee results or outcomes of treatments! Why not, you may ask?
Healthcare professionals work with people and people are individuals that react differently to treatments and medication. There are no guarantees as to how you will react to a treatment and therefore a healthcare professional cannot make a claim as to guaranteeing any results or outcomes.
Take myself as an example. We have a hereditary condition called Porphyria in the family. My dad has it, but all my tests were negative. However, even though my tests were all negative, I’m still very much affected by this condition and thus always have to mention it when seeking medical treatment. One of the results of Porphyria is that it makes us very sensitive to certain medication and therefore people with Porphyria should totally avoid certain medications like Barbiturates and others.
That being said, as a result I am very sensitive to medication and thus one of the reasons I have entered the world of holistic and complementary healthcare, due to seeking alternatives to allopathic medication. Now let me get back to my story. Each person reacts differently to treatment. My wife can drink a tablet like a Panado for a headache and continue with life while experiencing relief of the headache. I cannot just drink a Panado and continue with life; when I drink a Panado I am going to sleep for the next 8 or so hours and therefore I cannot drink a pain tablet just for the sake of experiencing pain relief, because it will affect my ability to drive and work and staying awake.
Similarly, due to hereditary high cholesterol and heart problems in the family, I have always tried to live a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy and doing enough exercise and so on. After doing all of the right things, I still ended up with high cholesterol when nearing and jumping over the naughty 40 age mark. I dealt with it by taking some natural medication and supplements and it kept the cholesterol levels under control for a few years, but after jumping over the age of 40, I ended up in hospital and had to go onto allopathic medication for the high cholesterol. The cardiologist told me that due to it being a hereditary condition, natural medication can deal with it for a certain time period, but some or other time your genetic make-up takes over and then you need something stronger and then allopathic medication may become necessary.
It all sounds very good and medical and professional; that is now until a guy with Porphyria in the family starts taking these allopathic medications. It is not funny when drinking high cholesterol medication and after three days experiencing pimple like painful things all over your body and after 4 days of using the medication to begin losing muscle control to the point where after 5 days of using the meds, it ended up with me not even having enough strength in my arms and hands to hold a pen. That was the first set of medication and thereafter the doctors tried a few different options.
When taking these medications after experiencing such severe side-effects, you tend to first open up the inside pamphlet and reading it before putting another tablet in your mouth. The funny part is that when you open up this pamphlet and open it up and open it up and it does not want to stop being opened up and then you start reading through the list of side-effects it can cause and you realise you are not getting any of these side effects, yet when going to the bottom of the pamphlet, there is a little section saying, “Side-effects in very rare instances” and you are looking into the mirror because you are experiencing all those very rare side effects, then you realise how a hereditary condition like Porphyria can affect your life.
It made me think back of when my eldest daughter was about 2 years old and she coughed and couched and couched and nobody could get any sleep. Eventually the Paediatrician prescribed a strong cough syrup to her, but every evening when giving it to her, she ended up coughing more. Out of frustration I opened up this inside pamphlet and was totally horrified at what I saw: It was a cough syrup, but one of the side-effects of this particular cough syrup was that it could cause severe coughing. Things like that forced me to look into complementary healthcare and in many instances with great success.
I’m telling you all of this, not to say that medication is bad. It is not. Medication can help you tremendously when you need it, but you need to take responsibility for your own health and not merely put anything into your mouth. You need to read what the side-effects of the product can be and be aware of it when it occurs in order to deal with it. You may say that it is not your responsibility, that is why you are paying a healthcare professional, but that is not true. Too often I have seen medication negatively affecting my dad and when speaking to the doctor he would say that it is the medication causing the problems, yet often it is the very same doctor that actually prescribed the medication. I’m saying all of this to get to the point that healthcare professionals cannot predict results and outcomes as each person reacts differently on treatment. The very same medication causing side-effects in my dad and in me, is working very well for other people.
So, the question arises: Is it the medication that is the problem? Is it the healthcare professional that is the problem? The answer is simple: Neither! The medication is not the problem as it is working in other people. The healthcare professional is not the problem since he is effectively helping many patients. The problem is not even a problem, it is just something you have to be aware of, namely that each person is unique and reacts differently to medication and treatment resulting in you having to take responsibility for your own health and if something is not working, speak to the healthcare professional to ensure it is dealt with and adjusted. It is always a good idea that if medication or treatment is not working effectively or causing any form of side-effect, that you speak to the specific healthcare professional that prescribed the medication or treatment instead of running to another healthcare professional. You are free to request a referral to another healthcare professional and any registered healthcare professional will gladly organise such referral or automatically do so if deemed necessary, but then it will be accompanied by background information and everything necessary for the next professional to not having to go through the same situation, but can try a different approach by having all the necessary information at his or her disposal.
Therapeutic reflexology is no different and results and outcomes cannot be guaranteed, because each person is unique and reacts differently on treatment. It should be noted that therapeutic reflexology is a therapy and not a diagnostic profession and therefore a few sessions may be necessary before any results are seen. For some patients they experience results in one to three sessions, while in other patients it may take up to 10 sessions before any results are seen. Some patients do not see any results for the condition they want results, but may experience improvements in other areas of their lives.
Regardless of results and outcomes, therapeutic reflexology is a pleasurable healthcare modality that will help you to relax and to reduce your stress levels and you should experience an overall feeling of wellness, even though there are not guarantees in healthcare.
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Christo A. Scheepers: Therapeutic Reflexologist
Dip.T.R.(Cum Laude) [IARAMT]
AHPCSA: A11945
Pr. No.: 1080000737453
Tel. 072-800 7243