Heaven Can Wait

If you're looking for a drug-free alternative to pain treatment, reflexology massage may be of interest to you. This form of therapy focuses on the reflex points in the body to stimulate energy pathways and promote your overall health. These reflex points are located in your hands, feet, and head and are associated with other body systems including your glands and organs. Reflexology charts show you which parts are associated with each other. For instance, the tips of your toes can be stimulated to promote health in the sinuses.

How reflexology works is a matter of some debate, but most practitioners believe that the pressure applied during a treatment sends the body signals by way of the central nervous system, helping to ease stress and pain.

There are four types of reflexology:

1. Zone Therapy: This is the simplest form of reflexology. It calls for on and off pressure to be applied to the hands or feet in one of five different zones. Each zone corresponds to a different area on the rest of the body and the goal of treatment is to bring balance back to each zone.
2. Meridian Therapy: This reflexology therapy is thought to work by helping to regulate energy balance and flow within the body. This is accomplished by stimulating a number of different acupuncture points. Meridian therapy is also thought to help restore balance in all aspects, including body, mind, and spirit.
3. Universal Method: The Universal takes traditional reflexology a step further by positing that mind and body must all be balanced in order for restoration to be achieved. Practitioners of the universal method believe that traumatic experiences and negative emotions are the root cause of many ailments, and they must be addressed as a part of the therapy.
4. Vacuflex: This variation on reflexology was made popular by a Danish reflexologist named Inge Dougans in the 1970s. It also known by the acronym VRS, and the overall goal of vacuflex therapy is to restore balance to the energy meridians in the body.

Reflexology is a type of massage or bodywork treatment that uses the body's different reflex points to promote health. By applying pressure to the reflex points in the feet, hands and head, energy pathways are stimulated and can aid in the healing of the body's glands and organs.

Practitioners of reflexology massage believe that its benefits are a result of the massage-like pressure applied during each treatment. They also assert that treatments send signals or emit chemicals much like endorphins to the body's central nervous system, conveying healing properties that can reduce pain and stress. It is commonly used to treat chronic pain and injuries.

Reflexology charts show users which reflex points are connect to the health of other parts of the body. For instance, in foot reflexology, the lower back and intestines can be stimulated through massage of the heel. The arch of the foot is thought to promote health in the kidneys, liver and pancreas. From your thyroid to your sinuses, virtual every part of the body is connected to a reflexology point in the foot (or hands in hand reflexology).

Potential Benefits of Reflexology

• Reduced stress and tensions
• Fewer headaches
• Relief from digestive disorders
• Restoration of hormonal and energy balances in the body
• Alleviation of pain caused by conditions like arthritis

If you plan to go in for reflexology treatment, plan on a session that lasts anywhere from forty-five minutes to one hour. Before you begin, the reflexologist will offer you a consultation to collect information about your lifestyle and overall health. If you get foot reflexology treatment, you'll need to remove your shoes and socks so that the therapist can evaluate your feet and begin therapeutic stimulation in areas that are tight or sensitive. Using very quicky movement, your feet will be warmed while pressure is

Most reflexology treatments last from 45 minutes to one hour. Before getting started a foot reflexologist will provide a consultation to gather information about your current lifestyle and overall health. After removing shoes and socks, the reflexologist will evaluate the feet and begin stimulating areas of the foot to locate any areas that are tight or tender. Warming the feet with quick movements, pressure is applied from your toe to your heel.

Most people find reflexology to be a very relaxing treatment. It should not be painful; however, you may experience some soreness or tenderness, especially early on. Slight discomfort lessens with the routine application of pressure.

Researchers are constantly publishing studies suggesting the best ways to prevent breast cancer for women that have reached their fifties. However, it is still recommended by the American Cancer Society that women should get a mammography regularly. Your doctor or OBGYN can recommend how often you should be screened.

X-rays are used in mammographies to examine the various breast tissues. Fibrous, fatty or glandular breast tissues, are typically examined by doctors in order to determine your risk of cancer.

Mammograms are divided into two categories: screening and diagnostic. Women who have reported no previous breast irregularities are typically given screening mammograms. These women usually are screened because of age or other elements that could contribute to breast cancer. In contrast, diagnostic mammography is used to investigate irregularities.

Screening Mammography

Early detection of breast cancer is very important because malignancies can be addressed before it can penetrate other areas of the body. Timely screenings are commonly accepted as a reliable method of detecting cancer very early in the process. As a matter of fact, mammograms can reveal cancer years before it can be detected by feeling it. This is why women are urged by the American Cancer Society to start annual mammograms at 40 years of age.

Mammograms can reveal spots or tiny calcium deposits in the soft tissue of the breast. These irregularities in tissue could point to cancer. Advancements in mammography include digital imaging that can enlarge and sharpen the smallest of specks on the film.

Diagnostic Mammography

Diagnostic mammography has the goal of investigating abnormalities after they have been originally detected. Lumps, discharges, or unexplained soreness of the breasts are reasons physicians may order this type of mammogram.

In addition, doctors sometimes use other methods to examine breast irregularities. Magnetic Resonance Imaging has the advantage of showing detail often missed by mammography. Ultrasounds help determine the density of lesions. And PET scans are sometimes used to examine cell activity. All of these can be used to evaluate the degree of spreading of malignant breast tumors. While these tools assist in the examination of breast irregularities and tumors, mammograms are still essential in detecting problems early, before they turn into something more serious.

There are many factors that put women at risk for breast cancer. Genetic factors and age draw the most attention when determining a woman's risk for malignancy. While it has already been stated that women should start getting mammograms at 40, a history of breast cancer in the family indicates an even earlier need to start screening.

Changing doctors is a difficult proposition.  After all, you have built a relationship with this person who you have entrusted your health to. It is difficult to end any relationship, so it shouldn't be carried out lightly.  However, these are the reasons a change may be necessary:

1. Moving: If you must relocate far from your doctor, of course you must consider finding another one.  Your health care is too important.  So if transportation or time is an issue, changing doctors to one closer to you is reasonable.
2. Your Doctor is Closing his/her Office: Oftentimes, the doctor is the one that is leaving.  Many change practices, for example, to join a clinic.  This way, doctors can have more favorable hours.  Doctors sometime concentrate on a specialty and give up their general practice. Sometimes, they just retire.  These are times that you must change your doctor.
3. Your Physician Terminates the Doctor/Patient Relationship: Sometimes the doctor fires the patient.  He or she may not feel that it is a good fit or that someone else may be more appropriate based on personality or your medical condition.
4. You Fire Your Doctor: There are a number of reasons why this may be necessary. Just as your doctor may think that it is a good idea to part ways, there are also times that you may feel that your doctor is not a good fit for you.  Here are some things to consider:

• You need better care: You may have a doctor that is easy to talk to and enjoyable to be around, but perhaps you feel that your medical needs aren't totally being addressed.  Bedside manner is one thing, but it should not come by sacrificing good care.
• You feel uncomfortable to be in his or her presence: Feeling a sense of dread as the time to see the doctor approaches (more than the usual uneasiness that comes with doctor visits) could be an indicator of this.
• You do not feel respected: For instance, you feel your doctor talks down to you or doesn't talk to you directly. Or, you may sense that your doctor doesn't listen to you. These are reasons that may make you feel that you lack the respect you deserve.

If you decide you need to make a change, it is important to have another doctor lined up.  You do not want to have a stretch of time without a physician.

You should never have the appearance of being antagonistic when ending your relationship with your doctor. Therefore, it is important to be diplomatic.  The physician community is a relatively small one – even in larger cities.  Burning your bridges could make it difficult to find another doctor.