[donakend]

My husband broke his back at T11 four months ago. He is an incomplete paraplegic with movement but no feeling in his legs. Our next hurdle is getting him to be able to void his bladder (he has an enlarged prostrate which makes self cathing difficult). Has anyone ever tried reflexology to help bring bladder function back?

[guido]

Should you go for it, I suspect that the difficulty you will encounter is that change (mostly) does not come quickly. So each time you pay for a session and go along with high hopes, you'll come away asking "has it happened? is there change? is it working?"

Change can come very slowly and for a long while you might not be sure whether it's happening, and that can be a dis-spiriting process. And many here will argue whether it's worth it (and more and more I'm realising that the SCI journey is a very personal one). I have been working away for 3 years at what I do (you can see my profile) and I spent the first 6 months wondering whether I was mad, whether it was working, whether the guy treating was a charlatan, etc.... Really wasn't for the faint-hearted. Fortunately I'm stubborn (taurean) and I stuck to my guns.

Now, as before, I work a LONG time for my changes and they're slow in coming. And they're so tiny you really have to be aware of what to look for. But change does come and I'm content with the choices I've made. And when tiny is added to tiny and added to tiny and added to tiny, it becomes small, and so on...

My bladder and bowels are way better now than they were at the beginning, but I still i/c and m/e.

If you decide to go down this route you'll need patience of angels and stubborness of mules. If it were a quick route, everyone here would do it, and that's if it works. If we knew it worked, everyone here would be doing it. But don't necessarily be put off by the doomsayers: had I listened, I'd have missed out on a great deal.

[Tetracyclone]

I would qualify Guido's statement, as organ health is approached differently from nerve restoration and strengthening.

Reflexology might help, as may chinese herbs and\or acupuncture. You want to find out what this patient responds to,because all patients need results. We in the Alternative Medicine fields standardly advise, "try it three times. If you see no results, try the next thing on the list. Absolutely key is a gifted practitioner.

When the first thing with good results stops working, again, go to the next idea on the list.

Patience is important but within guidelines. Best of luck.

[SMAY]

donakend, on Dec 17 2009, 04:52 AM, said:

My husband broke his back at T11 four months ago. He is an incomplete paraplegic with movement but no feeling in his legs. Our next hurdle is getting him to be able to void his bladder (he has an enlarged prostrate which makes self cathing difficult). Has anyone ever tried reflexology to help bring bladder function back?

I am looking into reflexology for my partner ... has this helped your husband in his recovery?

[Tetracyclone]

Speaking as a massage therapist, reflexology would be a long shot.