Reflex points for treating M.E.

RE: Reflex points for treating M.E.

Hi Lisa

i am only jsut starting out in my Reflexology training and I'm not sure if I can point you in the right direction or not, but here is my research on ME for my Aromatherapy course

myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a poorly understood chronic illness that presents with complaints of persistent unexplained fatigue together with various combinations of other flu-like symptoms such as recurrent sore throat, headache, joint and muscle pain, poor concentration, irritability, depression, low-grade fever, and swollen lymph nodes. Although no cause has been conclusively identified, it is commonly accepted that the syndrome reflects the presence of a smouldering viral infection in persons whose immune response has been compromised by chronic physical or psychological stress.

I think you need to carry out a thorough consultation with you case study and find out what the symptoms are and then target the reflex points which correspond.

Hope this helps
x

RE: Reflex points for treating M.E.

Hello there

In addition to the good points made by holisticheaven, here are my thoughts. I'm sure you always make initial treatments gentle ones anyway, but I'd say for the first time go softly and check for sensitivity and other reactions - give a shorter treatment than normal if during the consultation you feel your client has lots of problems and may be more sensitive to reflexology than another person. I would give a very general treatment first time and see how your client gets on. Make sure you let her know in a non scary way that after a treatment some people can feel the odd effect such as going to the loo more, a bit of a headache, emotional feelings etc. See what she reports back to you. If her main concerns are musculoskeletal pain for example then after treatment 1 you'll probably be looking at things like the spinal and brain reflexes, adrenals (for inflammation type pain), neck & shoulder, joints etc. Balancing the endocrine system should be most beneficial too. It really depends where she's having the most trouble - she might talk about pain, difficulty sleeping, feeling depressed and so on so these will give you clues to help formulate a treatment plan.

Some therapists say that treating a person with ME can be a draining experience. Do you have any protection and grounding techniques you use for yourself prior to giving treatments. You need to look after yourself first and foremost. Good luck!

RE: Reflex points for treating M.E.

Hi I regularly treat a client with ME and she really does benefit from the treatments. However like AtOne said, it is best if you give her a general treatment to begin with and see what her feet tell you. I have found that my client really does tend to change from session to session as her ME changes so it's not all that easy to follow the same treatment plan. I always work on the CNS and endocrine but I find that she often complains of having sore throats, aches in her legs, bad colds etc and so I adapt the treatment to suit.

You will find though that your client will really benefit from it but what I do find is that we make progress and she starts feeling almost 'normal' in that she has energy to do things and then something will set her back and we have to start again. Luckily my client is committed to the treatments as she wants to get better.

Hope that helps?! Also as AtOne says it can be quite tiring. My client seems to want to offload and so at the end of the treatment I do feel quite tired. So as she said, just watch yourself!!