The week of 24-30 September 2018 is known as World Reflexology Week, so the question I want to ask you today, is: Have you ever experienced Therapeutic Reflexology? If not, maybe September 2018 is the ideal month to visit a therapeutic reflexologist and experience this healthcare modality while the entire world focuses on this popular complementary healthcare profession.
I have experienced therapeutic reflexology myself! As a therapeutic reflexologist I fully believe in my profession and the benefits of reflexology and therefore I do not only offer it as a modality to the healthcare industry, but I personally love to receive therapeutic reflexology myself to maintain good health and to reduce stress levels.
Today, I want to tell you about my personal experience with therapeutic reflexology.
In 2014 my wife and I attended a show, the Gospel Skouspel, at the Grandwest Arena, but that entire day I did not feel so good. My tummy was really painful and I could not understand why. The evening we went for supper at Grandwest before the commencement of the show, but I did not feel hungry and decided not to eat. My wife was concerned, because I have not eaten the whole day, yet I felt satiated.
The Gospel Skouspel began, but I did not see much of the entire show as I spent more time outside the arena in the restroom, yet without any relief; I experienced the worst stomach pain ever.
That in itself is interesting, because my earliest memory as a child is that of severe tummy pain. I was very young, probably about 3 or 4 and suffered with constant abdominal cramps. I was then admitted to hospital and surgery was performed to see if the cause of the abdominal pain could be determined. During the exploratory surgery the doctor saw that my appendix was the problem and immediately removed it and solved the problem. This was very painful, but what I experienced in 2014 as an adult, was in a more severe category of pain.
The show ended and we walked all the way to the car, but what a terrible walk it was; I felt so uncomfortable and in pain. I told my wife that I’ll stop at the 24-hour pharmacy and have them take a look, maybe they would have a doctor on call to just check me out if possible, because the pain was just too excruciating.
At the car a shock awaited me. I was getting in the driver’s seat, but could not fit behind the steering wheel. My tummy was so bloated that I had to adjust the seat in order to get behind the steering wheel, but you know men, we are so stubborn that I wanted to drive even if it meant I had to sit further back.
So the driving began and as I drove towards home, the pain increased. We drove towards the N1 highway and then I told my wife that I’m not going to make it to the 24-hour pharmacy in Bellville and I drove in at the trauma unit at the N1 City Hospital. Then followed a very humbling experience; sitting in the trauma unit late on a Saturday night in such pain that tears rolled down my cheeks while people are looking on, but the pain was so severe that I did not even care.
The doctor examined me and said that I had a bowel obstruction and that I’ll be admitted to hospital. That evening a whole range of tests were done as I was pushed in a wheelchair from one scan to the next set of X-rays and so forth. I was finally put in a hospital bed on a drip with pain meds. The doctor informed me that my small intestine twisted, nobody knew why, and that caused an obstruction. The approach would be to keep me in hospital on a drip and medication for a few days and see if it untwists itself, which would be the first prize, because the next step would be to go for surgery to fix it up.
So a few days in hospital followed. Once the pain meds kicked in, at least I did not feel like I’m dying so then the fun started; the one staff member after the other coming in and asking me the same question: “Are you the guy that drove yourself to hospital? Don’t worry, your car is safe there where you left it on the doctor’s parking next to the trauma unit.” LOL, our South Africans that always know how to joke about everything.
After a few days in hospital, the small intestine untwisted without surgery and I was allowed to go back home. Then followed a very weird period. All of sudden I could not eat anything anymore, because there were so many foods that would cause me to severely bloat. And it was not always the things people would expect, like bread or gluten and so on, no, it was even healthy fruits and vegetables.
So it went for a month and then I bloated so severely I ended up at my general practitioner and he sent me for X-rays and it was confirmed, you are all twisted up again and I was referred to a surgeon to do all the necessary scopes to try and find the cause of this problem.
So back to hospital I went for the day. This time I was in the Mediclinic Hospital where a gastroscopy and colonoscopy was done; after all that invasive procedures, the specialist told me that he cannot find any fault or reason for the problem and he referred me to a dietician to help me with my diet and the diagnosis of “Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)”. At that stage I thought that IBS is an interesting “copout” diagnosis if the doctor does not know what is wrong.
I worked with a great dietician and she helped me with sorting out a diet, but even that was a nightmare, because there was no clear indication of my problem and it lead to a few difficult months. The reason was that I would get a diet plan that worked, but the next day it would not work. It was so ridiculous. The one day I could eat an apple without a problem, but when I ate an apple again the next day, then I would bloat up like a balloon on Helium gas. So it went with numerous fruits and vegetables and all kinds of other products. I just did not know what to eat anymore.
You should have joined my wife and I when we decided to go out for a meal. There was almost nothing on the menus that I could eat, so mostly Oats did not affect me and that was my stable food when going out.
So it continued for a few months and then I visited a therapeutic reflexologist for a totally different reason; I had some back pain and wanted a session for that. When I got on the treatment bed, the therapeutic reflexologist immediately asked me why I looked so bloated. I told her the story and she gave me the necessary treatment. She also suggested I do a Candida diet. At that stage I had no idea what that meant so I did what all patients do, they visit Dr Google to find the answer to their medical questions LOL.
I saw that the Candida diet basically meant that all sugary foods, but also all foods like starch and certain vegetables that turn into sugar in the body would be excluded from the diet for a certain period of time. I decided I did not have much to loose since I can barely eat anything in any case, so on the Candida diet journey I jumped while continuing therapeutic reflexology.
A couple of weeks later I visited the therapeutic reflexologist again and she mentioned that my tummy does not look bloated anymore. I have not even noticed; that is what happens with constant healthcare problems, you get so used to feeling unwell, that you sometimes are totally unaware when something changed. I agreed and decided to follow her advice and to test the different foodstuffs to see what affects me.
To my surprise, nothing seemed to affect me. I was eating normally again and I was not bloating anymore. What a relief and that due to a professional therapeutic reflexologist that took the time to be observant and provide me with excellent therapy.
For the past few years I have been living a healthy life without any bloating and I feel like a normal person again, but as any good therapeutic reflexologist will tell you, it is always good to maintain low stress levels while maintaining good health, so regular therapeutic reflexology sessions are ideal for that purpose.
I’m telling you this story today since September 2018 hosts World Reflexology Week and it is sometimes necessary to realise that healthcare providers are also just human with their own stories. I can share a story like this, because I have personally experienced the benefits of therapeutic reflexology and therefore I do not only make use of it myself, but I also offer the best possible therapeutic reflexology to my patients. The reason for this, is not only because I’m fully qualified and registered to do so, but also due to having personally experienced the benefits of the profession. This puts me in a position to fully belief in the healthcare modality I offer and I do so with the inner knowledge that it can be just as beneficial for you as it is and was for me.
Let me end this article by making it clear that therapeutic reflexology is not a replacement for medical doctors or medical care as it is not a diagnostic profession, but a therapeutic profession only. This means that therapeutic reflexologists are not working against medical doctors, but as therapists alongside them. In order for this to happen, the therapeutic reflexologist is fully registered and regulated by the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa, the only statutory body that can give legal permission to practice reflexology in South Africa.
What makes this important is the fact that if you want to experience truly professional therapeutic reflexology, you have to ensure that you visit a therapeutic reflexologist that is fully qualified, registered and regulated by the proper government regulatory body.
If you have not experienced therapeutic reflexology before, why not take this opportunity to join the rest of the world in September 2018 to make your appointment with a registered therapeutic reflexologist to keep your stress levels under check?
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Christo A. Scheepers: Therapeutic Reflexologist
Dip.T.R.(Cum Laude) [IARAMT]
AHPCSA: A11945
Pr. No.: 1080000737453
Tel. 072-800 7243