As I have mentioned before, I spend a lot of my time listening – to clients, of course, to the radio as I drive to and from appointments, and to podcasts which are an endless source of information and entertainment leading to plenty of discussion in my house. In the past week or two, a couple of things caught the attention of my ears and both relate in a round about way to my work as a reflexologist.
The first was a report on NPR about the benefits, or not, of having surgery to correct meniscus tears. It was an informative and interesting piece which concluded that in many cases, having physical therapy or even doing nothing, was as effective as surgery. In one study, patients who were given ‘fake’ surgery (light sedation and a bandage) showed the same improvement as people who had actual meniscus surgery. The report mentioned that complimentary therapies can be very valuable in the healing process and also referenced a study into back pain which demonstrated scientific evidence for the first time of acupuncture in treating the condition.
I also heard an episode of the podcast Only Human, also produced by NPR, in which the reporter interviewed her Cuban grandmother about her love of of Vicks Vaporrub and why she is convinced that it can heal pretty much anything, including toe nail fungus. It turns out this is such a common topic, that if someone calls Vicks’ customer advice number, there is a recorded message stating that Vicks should not be used for this purpose! Many of my clients swear otherwise, but I suggest better to use Vicks as directed and listen to the story. It is funny, moving, full of history and offers a fascinating explanation for the origins of the use of Vicks as a nail fungus remedy!
