Does Therapeutic Reflexology replace medical care from your medical doctor? The answer to this question is easy: NO!!!!!!!
Therapeutic Reflexology does not replace medical care and is definitely not in a position to do so, but let’s have a look at this matter.
The medical profession is regulated by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and your medical doctor or in other words, your General Practitioners (GP) and your medical specialists register with this organisation. Therapeutic Reflexology on the other hand is a profession that is regulated by the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA). The result of this is that the two professions are regulated under different Acts in South African Legislation. What is similar in both professions, is the fact that registration with these organisations is crucial in order to legally practice in South Africa. It is illegal for medical doctors to practice medicine in South Africa if they are not registered with the HPCSA and in a similar way it is illegal for a Therapeutic Reflexologist to practice reflexology in South Africa without being registered with the AHPCSA.
The difference between the professions come in when looking at the type of professions. Medicine is a diagnostic profession and any medical doctor has undergone rigorous training for many years in order to graduate as one of the best diagnostic practitioners on the planet. Medical doctors are allowed to diagnose and they have the ability to do so with extreme precision that rests upon their years of clinical training and experience. If you want to put a label on your conditions, medical doctors are one of the best healthcare professionals to offer you with such a diagnosis based not only on excellent clinical diagnostic skills, but also by making use of modern technology equipment and testing.
Therapeutic Reflexology is not a diagnostic profession, meaning there are no reflexologists that will diagnose any condition and it is illegal for them to do so. Therapeutic Reflexology is a non-diagnostic profession or in other words, a therapeutic profession. Therapeutic Reflexologists are allowed to treat already diagnosed conditions within their scope of practice provided by the AHPCSA.
This distinction is crucial to understand. Medical doctors may diagnose, but Therapeutic Reflexologists may not diagnose. This very fact should provide sufficient information to inform everyone that therapeutic reflexology can never be a replacement for medical care.
It should be mentioned that there are other professions regulated by the AHPCSA that are classified as diagnostic professions, like homeopathy and naturopathy, although these practitioners diagnose based on a different model than what medical doctors use. Medical doctors look at presenting signs and symptoms to diagnose, while in general the diagnostic professions regulated by the AHPCSA looks at conditions from a holistic perspective. This being said, everyone should be fully aware of the fact that therapeutic reflexology is a therapeutic profession and therefore not able to diagnose any condition.
So, how does the therapeutic reflexologist work? Well, the therapeutic reflexologist would be informed by the patient of pre-diagnosed conditions as it was diagnosed by medical doctors or complementary medicine diagnostic practitioners. Based on this information, the therapeutic reflexologist would do a health assessment that is based on a holistic perspective of the body to indicate by means of therapeutic reflexology techniques where possible imbalance or stress in the body is causing blockages. This is an assessment done within the therapeutic reflexologist’s scope of practice and is definitely not a diagnosis. What it does, is to provide the therapeutic reflexologist with enough information in order to customise the therapeutic treatment for the specific patient to provide maximum benefits.
Ultimately it should be understood that the therapeutic reflexologist does not heal the patient, but assist the patient’s body to relax and heal itself or at least attempt to balance itself. With the treatment usually comes numerous health benefits and improved quality of life.
The duration of a therapeutic reflexology treatment session is usually one hour and this provides a further piece in the puzzle making you realise that it is not a replacement for medical care. Medical doctors are extremely busy and do not have the time to spend one hour with each patient. This is where therapeutic reflexologists come in, because they are not diagnostic practitioners and therefore do not see so many patients resulting in the fact that they are able to spend an hour with a patient to provide added benefit.
Therapeutic reflexology is not a replacement of medical care, but it is a very effective complementary healthcare modality that can assist patients that were seen and diagnosed by medical doctors.
The question arises whether a patient may receive therapeutic reflexology if the medical doctor already prescribed treatment? The answer to this question is: YES!!!! That is what makes therapeutic reflexology such a great complementary healthcare modality. Therapeutic reflexology does not interfere with medical treatment at all, but offer added benefit to the patient like reduced stress levels, better sleeping patterns, improved digestive function, improved circulation; all this may improve a patient’s quality of life as it may help patients on very strong allopathic medication to eliminate toxins better making the absorption of the medication more effective while helping the patient to experience less side effects.
Therapeutic reflexology is a good complementary healthcare modality that can be effectively used in conjunction with medical care and medical treatment, but it is not a replacement of medical care.
Do medical doctors understand the value of therapeutic reflexology? This question has a double-barrel answer, because there are many medical doctors that do not understand therapeutic reflexology and do not recognise its value, while there are many medical doctors that understand the value of using therapeutic reflexology as a therapeutic modality in combination with medical treatment. When seeing how therapeutic reflexologists work effectively alongside the medical professionals in hospitals, then it is evident that there are numerous medical doctors that do believe that therapeutic reflexology may add benefit and improve the quality of life of patients.
As in any profession, there are medical doctors that believe therapeutic reflexology will add benefit to patients’ lives while there are medical doctors that do not believe it. This is not strange, because there are medical doctors that also do not believe that physiotherapy or psychology or even psychiatry can add benefit to patients’ lives, yet these are all recognised professions in the healthcare system.
It should be understood that just because a specific medical doctor or a group of medical doctors do not believe that therapeutic reflexology can add benefit to a patient’s life, does not necessarily make it true.
If your medical doctor does not understand therapeutic reflexology or even frown upon this profession, then maybe you should take the initiative to discuss the matter with your doctor.
As a therapeutic reflexologist in private practice I do sometimes require a medical doctor to approve therapeutic reflexology treatments before commencement; that happens when patients are diagnosed with certain conditions. On the other hand, sometimes it is necessary to refer a patient to a diagnostic practitioner, whether a GP or a Homeopath or a Naturopath, to obtain a good check up and possible diagnosis. It is also interesting to note that certain medical aids require a GP’s referral to a therapeutic reflexologist before they will pay for the therapeutic reflexology treatments; this is not all medical aids, because you do not need a referral to see a therapeutic reflexologist, but some medical aids require this. It is always good to find out what the stance of your medical aid is on a matter like this.
To conclude, therapeutic reflexology is a non-diagnostic profession and excellent as complementary therapy alongside your medical care, but it never replaces medical care.
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Christo A. Scheepers: Therapeutic Reflexologist
Dip.T.R.(Cum Laude) [IARAMT]
AHPCSA: A11945
Pr. No.: 1080000737453
Tel. 072-800 7243