Alternative therapies

I’ve just watched the ‘Alternative Therapies’ programme on Reflexology on the BBC i-player.

I really enjoyed seeing it start at ‘Quest’ a small alternative therapy festival held in Newton Abbot. I’ve been a couple of times and really enjoy the mix of workshops, treatments and music on offer, in addition to the warm friendly atmosphere it has. 

I’ve got mixed feelings about this programme, I really liked the fact that they were going around the festival asking people about Reflexology and you got some lovely shots of people having Shiatsu treatments. I like the fact that the people being asked weren’t putting themselves forward as experts and were open to say they didn’t have a scientific understanding of why it worked.  I  do feel the editing made these willing participants look confused about what they were talking about and therefore not reliable. 

“As a scientist Sykes, unsurprisingly, begins from a skeptical point of view. But on both topics both covered she has concluded with the admission that there may be something in it after all”(http://new-age-spirituality.com/wordpress/?p=111).

I found a really good post on http://www.homereflexology.co.uk/articles/bbc-2-alternative-therapies-reflexology which looks at the scientific evidence todate in relation to reflexology and puts together a good case in response.  

Another post discussion on the subject can be found here: http://tracingflight.blogspot.com/2008/03/real-alternative-therapy.html

I really liked a comment posted by Michael “Yes, in the programme she rather left it hanging - couldn’t find any scientific proof but did introduce a number of practitioners who were somehow producing results. The sceptical scientists will of course keep calling it nonsense until a new theory looks at it all from a novel angle with results which will trigger a new wave of research. That’s how science works, that’s how knowledge moves forward. But what are the chances of getting research funding for such apparently off-beat areas.”

 I have to say that anything that brings Complementary / Alternative therapies into the public domain is a good thing. It raises awareness and enables people to see what is available to them. 

Here’s one CAM clients response ” Although they found no solid “evidence” to show how reflexology could work and therefore could be useful, an investigator in the series from LA had said that people with fibromyalgia had been reported to benefit from massage.

“Benefit from it?” Yeah! I can vouch for that! Give me massage over NSAIDs anytime for my fibro! And mind you, I mean deep massage which tackles my trigger points. Not just gentle stroke for relaxation”   http://fms-ra.blogspot.com/2008/04/alternative-therapies-on-bbc.html

I’ve just stumbled across an article which states the rowing teams from Salford and Manchester Universities have been having Complementary thrapies to ensure they are in the best shape ready for their annual race : http://www.salford.ac.uk/news/details/682.   With or without Scientific proof, if the client feels a benefit from a treatment and believes it is beneficial to them, then they are going to use it.

DR Kathy Sykes talked freely about how she felt like she had a new body once she had a massage and believes that she should have more because she feels they do her good. The rowing teams must feel the CAM therapies will be beneficial to their performance else they wouldn’t use them. 

The programme ended with Dr Sykes going to a cuddle class in LA and concluding that touch has positive effects. 

One of my clients told me that this weeks womens weekly has an article on touch therapies, including Shiatsu, so I picked up a copy and really like what I see.

I’ve not found the article on the internet, so I’ll give you a snippet and if you like it’s W/C 15th Aprils copy.   ” Increasingly, GP’s are prescribing massage for minor injuries, such as stiff neck, and using it, together with other treatments, for more significant medical conditions, such as osteoarthritis and depression. Touch therapy is enormously beneficial, acknowledges Dr Graham Archard, a GP in Christchurch, Dorset. It can be used to reduce tension in muscles, which can in turn help to relieve pain in joints so, for something like a stiff neck, massage is excellent. Or I would use it as an additional therapy with other care for a condition such as osteoarthritis. Research has demonstrated that healing  touch lowers heart rate and blood pressure and can cut levels of stress hormones, and at the same time increase levels of melaton and the feel good hormone serotonin.”……. Get your copy now!