This case study is posted on my blog to show the beneficial effect that reflexology can have on excema ;my case study is a female in her early 40s who has suffered from excema for most of her
life . As far as she is aware the trigger is not dietary,although she is partial to dairy prodce,especially cheese and also tropical fruit.She believes that the excema trigger is mainly stress,also her mother had similar symptoms and her daughter also has small patches of excema so it would seem to be partly hereditary too. She also has asthma.As with many excema sufferers,she can only use medicated unperfumed shampoos and soaps etc .
The excema appears as raised red,itchy patches on her hands,backs of knees,legs,across her back,on her chest and neck and also her face- it flares up usually in October/November and she has noticed that it is usually quite bad when she is in a damp environment .
She has in the past used lavender essential oil (diluted in a carrier oil) topically which she found helpful .
PLEASE NOTE THAT AS THIS IS A REFLEXOLOGY CASE STUDY I WILL BE REFERING TO REFLEX AREAS ON THE FEET AND THEREFORE THE CORRRESPONDING AREA OF THE BODY WHICH THEY RELATE TO .
session 1 - 17 January 2007
skin on feet is quite dry -callouses over cervical reflexes on both feet (has had a car accident a few years ago and suffered whiplash-has had problems ever since) .
Bronchial tube reflexes congested
stomach and small intestine reflexes quite tender
large lump on both feet over area relating to duodenum (absorbtion point) ,very painful and tender on both feet.
Large intestine reflex o.k.
nothing noted on ileo-caecal reflex.
Client felt light headed straight after the treatment .
session 2 - 29 January 2007 (2 weeks later )
comments/feedback from client from 1st treatment
Excema flared up a bit,she also had stomach pains that afternoon - note: it is very common for people to experience a 'flare up ' after their first reflexology treatment - it is a sign that the body is responding to the treatment and is trying to balance itself and shake off the ailment or condition.
Reflexes the same as first treatment - large lumps over duodenum reflexes ,very painful and tender still
session 3 - 13 February 2007
Comments from client after second treatment :
excema not too bad now -it is just on her hands and across her back .she has not had any hard cheese since the last treatment and has tried soya yoghurt and goats' cheese .
Continued with a full reflexology treatment - all reflexes the same except for duodenum reflex which is not as pronounced and hard on the feet and not as tender to the client .
session 4 - 2 March 2007
comments from client after treatment 3:
client only has excema on her hands now.It is not present on her torso or back .She is only eating cheese when she goes out,and is just eating yoghurt occasionally .
Treatment result is the same as last session.
session 5 - 27 March 2007(4 weeks later)
comments from previous treatment:
I Little excema on her back,hands are really good . Still limiting dairy intake .
Reflexology treatment no.5 - all reflexes quite good . No tenderness on digestive reflexes,duodenum reflex is much less pronounced,just a small lump now and not tender to touch.
session 6 - 21 May 2007(6 weeks later)
Client has had a bad ecxema 'flare up' which she has pt down to eating a lot of tropical fruit .She has cut this out of her diet now and her skin is much better.She has been eating yoghurt,but not buying cheese.
Reflexes all quite good,despite the recent flare up of excema .
session 7 -6 July 2007(6 weeks later)
Skin is really good at the moment .
Reflexology treatments are now happening at 6 week intervals .Full treatment as before .
session 8 - 16 August 2007 (6 week interval)
skin has been really good apart from a minor stress related flare up before an operation.
Full treatment carried out as previously.
session 9 - 24 September 2007
Client has been tressed due to going back work after operation - she has a bit of excema on her hands and backs of legs,but otherwise ok .
session 10 - 29 January 2008 ( break in treatments due to client going back to work and Christmas holidays etc)
Feedback from client since our last session :
She feels that her skin has been really good . It flared up a little bit due to stress,but not to any major degree.She is eating chesses and tropical fruit in small quantities,and ate quite a lot of cheese at Christmas .Despite this her skin has been vergy good and any small excema patches have cleared up much quicker than they would normally.
Over all we both feel that reflexology at regular intervals has been very beneficial to this person,and we have established that her triggers seem to be 1. stress 2. dairy 3. tropical fruit . She feels that with the help of regular reflexology treatments she can now tolerate these things much more without having bad flare ups of excema . Below are some questions and answers from the lady herself......
1. Had you considered reflexology before i approached you to be a case study?
No, i used only non-sensiitive products,all soaps,moisturisers,bath oils etc medicated from my g.p.
2.Have you enjoyed the reflexology and di you feel that it was explained adequately to you at the start of the course?
Yes,it was very relaxing,more painful that i thought it would be for the first couple of times.I didn't have much of an understanding before of reflexology,but it was fully explained to me by Sam .
3.Have you found the over-all experience to be benfeicial to you excema?if so,on a scale of 1-10 what would the rating be?
I have found that my excema has definitely improved,it didn't flare up as much last year,only the odd couple of days when it has been sore.I would score it overall at about 7 or 8 out of 10.
4.Would you recommend reflexology to others as a treatment for excema?
Yes,definitely combined with looking at diet i.e.dairy products or acidic fruit.
5.Are there any other comments you would like to make on this course of treatments?
I found it to be an enjoyable and therapeutic form of treatment,that has generally improved my skin condition.
