Both the Lupus Foundation of America and the U.S. National Institute of Health acknowledge the usefulness of complementary therapies, while of course being fairly circumspect about making any claims of its effectiveness and success. (The NHS is even more circumspect– though they do acknowledge the possible usefulness while saying there is insufficient medical evidence.)
I first started using acupuncture around the age of 23, when we were put in touch with Tom Tam in Boston Chinatown through family friends whose daughter had cancer. He had already helped her to live an extra year and a half beyond what had been expected at that point, and Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard had just started a study of why his particular technique of acupuncture was so successful in treating cancer. (This study is ongoing, as it is a 10 year longitudinal project.)
The advantage of Tom Tam’s tong ren qi gong technique for me is that he approaches cancer and autoimmune disorders in the same way, as he sees them as two different manifestations of the same problem within the body. For our friends’ daughter, he had shrunk a tumor in the brain stem from the size of a grapefruit to the size of a pea. For me, he basically kept me in remission for the final year of undergrad and the first two years of teaching. I flared up again six months after cutting back his treatment.
Recently, I’ve had reflexology treatments in the UK. A dear friend, L, was trained in reflexology about 4-5 years ago and now owns her own company in the Taunton area (see below). She referred me to her friend, N, in Durham, and I had my first session with N yesterday in both reflexology and aural acupuncture. The session was amazing.
Today I feel more relaxed, in much less pain, with more mobility in my body. I also was breathing much better yesterday afternoon.
I also take one medication that is considered alternative medicine for Lupus, as I was advised to by the Mayo Clinic. Believe it or not, I take large amounts of vitamin D– this is considered alternative medicine because there aren’t enough studies for it to be an accepted mainstream treatment. However, preliminary studies show it is helpful.
Tom Tam: http://www.tomtam.com/
Dana Farber: http://www.dana-farber.org/
Journal article on Tom: http://chp.sagepub.com/content/14/1/19.abstractLFA on Complementary Therapies: http://www.lupus.org/…/qa-with-dr-betsy-blazek-oneill-compl…
Acupuncture and Lupus med journal article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19029279
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17503136
Somerset reflexology: http://footlightsfeet.com/
Durham reflexology: [Removed]
This post was the most controversial in 2016, and the only one where I had to manage any negative comments. Unfortunately, one person felt they had to accuse me of advocating against Western medicine because I posted this, despite the other 30 posts of the month being focussed on the Western approach. These are complementary, meaning they do not replace the other things I need to live with Lupus, but they do help a whole lot!! You should always check with your doctor before introducing any of these into your own care routine. Also, I think it’s incredibly Euro-centric and colonialist to dismiss the vast amount of knowledge amassed in other cultural traditions, such as traditional Chinese medicine and ayurveda. There is so much we still don’t know about the body, and there is nothing wrong with having an open mind.
I also want to say that I sadly had to remove the endorsement of the Durham-based reflexologist. Over the course of my treatment relationship with her, I discovered she actually did some things that were in conflict with the ethic code of the BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists). Though I didn’t see her for counselling, just reflexology, I can’t endorse her to treat anyone, in any way. But I fully endorse the others on the list!
Wondering what’s going on with these posts? Check out my explanation HERE!
This Isolation Life 