Ok, I’ve always dismissed it as New Age mumbo jumbo but a few comments from friends and something I saw on the jellyvision sort of got me thinking.

Mrs Deadly is suffering with endemetriosis and is considering reflexology to help alleviate the symptoms/causes and has been in touch with someone with a good reputation who specialises in menstrual problems.

I know that only the girls will understand when I say that mrs deadly’s pains are absolutely horrendous. Sometimes, I don’t hear from her for a while and I’ll find her lying on the bathroom floor unable even to call out to me to help her up. Recently, we’ve had to cancel some camping trips because the pains arrived on the Thursday/Friday and there was simply no point in spending the weekend in a tent in that kind of pain.

She’s on some new drugs from the GP which appear to be a little better than the last but not that much better. Interweb research just points us in the direction of (surprise, surprise) really really positive experiences.

Trying to keep an open mind and looking for experiences of anybody that’s given it a go and found that it either helped or had no effect. If the experiences are any way related to mrs deadly’s problems, then even better. Don’t want to throw money down the drain on something that might not work.

No harm in trying it. I would think acupuncture has a better chance of working however. Whats your view on illegal drugs? cannabis is known to be useful for this sort of thing 🙂

darcy – let me have your e-mail, mine is in my profile.

The Bottom Line

Reflexology is based on an absurd theory and has not been demonstrated to influence the course of any illness. Done gently, reflexology is a form of foot massage that may help people relax temporarily. Whether that is worth $35 to $100 per session or is more effective than ordinary (noncommercial) foot massage is a matter of individual choice. Claims that reflexology is effective for diagnosing or treating disease should be ignored. Such claims could lead to delay of necessary medical care or to unnecessary medical testing of people who are worried about reflexology findings.

From: http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/reflex.html

http://guidelines.endometriosis.org/

Seems to be the current guide…

…and just to make me look daft, this from the above site;

Many women with endometriosis report that nutritional and complementary therapies such as homeopathy, reflexology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbal treatments, etc., do improve pain symptoms. Whilst there is no evidence from RCTs in endometriosis to support these treatments, they should not be ruled out if the woman feels that they could be beneficial to her overall pain management and/or quality of life, or work in conjunction with more traditional therapies.

wife had some reflexology for her bad back. She also tried aquapuncture even tho she has a real problem with needles.

The aquapuncture did nothing.

The reflexology worked for a while.

Turns out she has a degenerative arthritis problem associated to her psoriasis.

So short answer is it works for some same as hypnosis works for some slimmers and smokers.

If you can afford it try it, nothing ventured nothing gained etc. If this practitioner is being recommended by friends then it should be OK otherwise wide berth.

I would agree with tj and would say that acupuncture would be worth a try. I have recently been having it for something in the related area (not endo though) and it seemed to work well for me.

Thanks for the comments guys and girls. As I thought, I’ll mention acupuncture. You know how it is, we’re at the stage of just trying anything as it’s a real problem for her now being self-employed…it’s beyond WingTFU about it…which she’s been doing for years. Cinnamon, I’m only on the mobile browser for now but will drop you an email later. Thanks.

darcy – am obviously happy for mrs darcy to e-mail me direct if she prefers 🙂

I haven’t had reflexology for girlie problems however I had a dodgy knee as a kid through cycling from the age of 13 years old and using cleats I went to reflexology and it worked. I’ve also had acupuncture for other issues and that’s worked. initially I thought it was all mumbo jumbo but if you’ve tried other things it is definately worth it! I found it can be very relaxing as well.

acupuncture is certainly relaxing, dropped off in my first session 😀

cinnamon, ygm 🙂

darcy – have replied 🙂

My cousin had acupuncture for this very problem. It really helped her.
Also she was told she’d never have children because of the condition.
She now has 2 lovely boys aged 7 and 9.

Also she was told she’d never have children because of the condition.

Don’t frighten the shit out of me!

She now has 2 lovely boys aged 7 and 9.

Phew, you didn’t!

has she been to see a consultant at your local hospital, or is it all gp advice so far?

if she hasnt seen a specialist get her to go see one.

alternative medecines have never really helped my missus, although she has it quite severely.

the condition is fairly common, but symptom severity varies greatly with quantity and position of the tissue.

there are various treatments from changing the pill, to pseudo menopausal drugs, to removing the tissue.

my missus has had several ops for it, and it really does help, and it was all keyhole so not that invasive.

she is welcome to email the missus for further info, she uses some specific forums i think?

her emails lpell@hotmail.co.uk