H I am a qualified reflexologist, I have a client who cannot feel his feet or his hands whilst I am Doing a treatment, I only qualified a short time ago and have never come across this problem before, I was quite disturbed by this, I have spoken to my Tutor about this she is extremely busy, apparently he is suffering from Periphel Neuropathy he does have type 2 diabetes,. He assures me he has Gp consent, also he signs my Disclaimer form.
Has any body got any information that will help me treat this client. when I found out he was type 2 diabetic I arrived with lots of info about what he should not be eating etc, I have heard this condition in some cases is irreversable. I left him with lots of home care advice but he has to do the hard work, I will try hard to motivate him. would greatly appreciate any help with this. thankzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I would ask him for a signed letter as diabetes is generally a contra-indication.
But if you are going ahead with it then be assured that he may not be feeling the movements but his body will still react to the movements.
Will read the other comments with great interest.
Hi, you will need to be careful with the pressure you use during the treatment with this sort of nerve damage as your client won't be able to tell you if you are working too hard. Remember that a treatment with a gentle touch will be just as effective as using a firm touch.
I have a couple of clients with diabetes and have always written to their GP as a courtesy to let them know about the planned course of treatment, and this gives the GP the opportunity to contact you or advise their patient if they don't think reflexology is advisable. It's very rare in my experience for GP's to sign a consent form either due to their being extremely busy (or worried about possible litigation).
Hope that helps. Tracey 🙂
reflexology with diabetes
Hi thanks for your advice, I will proceed gently with the treatments, and I have also advised that he checks his insulin levels before and after treatments. he is only having one a month so far, When I done the consultation with him he never mentioned the loss of feeling to me, also when I asked him if his Doctor had given him a diagnosis as to why he had lost the feeling in his feet and hands he replied no. (how strange) The signed form was purely for my own insurance. He and his girlfriend are very overweight I will try to motivate them both with my advice about how great life coud be for them both.. thanks again
reflexology with diabetas
Hi thank you for your reply, i did get a signature from my client authorising the treatment, this is required by my insurance, he has not given me a letter from his gp giving his consent, he told me his gp was happy to verbally give consent. Hope that is ok.
I do have another lady who wants a treatment from me but she had polio as a child. She is now 80, she told me she would like to try a treatment as she is so stressed, do you think it would be ok to give treatment, she is a friend of my other 2 clients and they have recomended me. Any advice please.
Hi 😀
I havent worked with peripheral neuropathy specifically but have had experience with clients who have suffered strokes and lost feeling in limbs.
One particular client was very badly affected all down their right side with zero feelings and the entire area was always absolutely freezing cold.
Their health provider contacted me and asked me to be sure to work the affected area equally with the unaffected area. (how cool is that)
I've been treating this client monthly for 5 years and have seen excellent results. The most impressive is that their limbs are now much warmer to the touch-although they still have zero feeling.
There are so many benefits and you can make such a difference to this persons quality of life in ways that you arent always expecting. So I would focus on giving a gentle treatment covering all reflexes with lots of relaxing moves in between.
Enjoy working with this client and well done for having the confidence to accept them so soon after qualifying. 😀
Peripheral neuropathy
I have treated several diabetics and a couple with peripheral neuropathy. It can be a very painfull condition and in many cases is not reversable.
Any diabetic who presents with numbness, altered sensation or pain in the hands or feet, who has not been diagnosed should be referred back to their GP or diabetic specialist; early treatment which involves close monitoring of the diet and blood sugars can halt the deterioration of the neuropathy.
Fantastic control of the blood sugars for 2 years can in some cases improve the condition, although it can sometimes get worse before it gets better. Nerve damage improves very slowly and can only do so when the blood sugar is at its optimum. If the patients HbA1c is within normal levels (up to 7.5) then the numbness you have described may be down to something else and may need to be further investigated.
Some type 2 diabetics a number of years following diagnosis my need to go onto insulin or have their medication increased to better manage their blood sugar level and prevent complications of diabetes.
If it is peripherial neuropathy then reflexology alone will not resolve the issue.
Good luck.