An anecdote: Many years ago I worked at a European scientific institute near the French Alps as a secretary (is this term even still used these days?!). In my free time I decided to train as a reflexologist and was fortunate to have many willing colleagues to practice on. Most were scientists with busy minds, many of them suffering from various degrees of insomnia, finding it hard to switch off after hours – these were usually house visits. Sometimes, I worked on my desk-bound colleagues during morning or afternoon tea break right there in the office – the most typical complaints being rather predictably stiff necks, tight shoulders, or sore lower backs.
One day, a young Russian exchange student knocked on our office door holding his swollen jaw. He was clearly in extreme pain. My colleague and I noticed the smell of his breath before he had even spoken to us…. In broken English he explained that he needed to attend the conference dinner that night and knew he needed a dentist for what seemed to be an infected tooth. Could we ring one? My colleague and I tried to ring around but with such short notice the only appointments available were for the next morning. He looked defeated. We booked it anyway for the following morning. With hand gestures I asked him if he wanted to try reflexology to ease his pain. I could tell he must have been at his wits end but probably decided he had nothing to lose by trying this “odd technique”.
The reflex zones I focused on were:
The teeth, in particular the molar teeth where the problem seemed to be
The jaw - associated site of the pain
The adrenal glands - to manage pain and inflammation
The spine - to stimulate the nerves
The solar plexus – to help calm and relax
Upper lymphatics – to help encourage removal of the toxins from the infected tooth / gum
The session lasted about 20 minutes and off he went. The student came back the following morning saying that the pain had subsided enough for him to attend the entire conference dinner and to even eat a little. The dentist confirmed it was an infected tooth.
Reflexology is by no means a cure-all and should not replace medical treatment, but can help with uncomfortable symptoms of toothache for example. Moral of the story: It pays to have your teeth checked at least yearly…especially after Easter! PS This tooth is on loan from the Tooth Fairy...
