Healer, heal thyself (2)

No idea how it happened, but Saturday morning I woke up with a pain in my hip that had me limping. It was most annoying, as I had just signed up for a two-day yoga intensive. Luckily it was restorative yoga, but I still had to get there (and back) on public transit, and that translated into more walking than I thought I might be able to do.

I had had SI joint issues before, and had been given exercises for it by a physiotherapist, so I began by doing those exercises, and then I threw in some stretching for good measure. Nope. That didn't work. Next, I tried qigong. I figured standing like a tree for 10-minutes or so might do some good. That didn't work either.

By this point I was getting a little desperate. I am not used to having something wrong with me and I began to think "what if this never goes away? what if it's the beginning of something terrible?" It didn't help that someone I knew had just last year gone through the experience of having what he thought was a pulled muscle turn out to be a rare and nasty cancer. Plus, the clock was ticking, and I needed to go to that workshop.

So finally, in desperation, I turned to my art. I don't know why I thought of energy healing last. Maybe it's because we are often told that it doesn't work as well on self as others. I gave myself a treatment -- and my hip felt better. In fact, I was surprised at how much better it felt. I made it to the workshop (where sitting on the floor made it a bit worse again), then made it home, then treated it some more, and slept with a rolled up towel under my knee. By Sunday evening it was 90-95% better, and on Monday evening I taught three karate classes and a fitness class with no difficulty whatsoever.

Truly, the stuff never ceases to amaze me.

New York Times article says operations for meniscus tears "next to useless"

The article quotes Dr. Gordon H. Guyatt, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, suggesting that the operation not even be mentioned to patients as an option, or mentioned with the caveat that

“We have randomized clinical trials that produce the highest quality of evidence. They strongly suggest that the procedure is next to useless. If there is any benefit, it is very small and there are downsides, expense and potential complications.”

Why? Because of this study, which compared two groups of "middle aged patients with degenerative meniscal tears," one receiving "twelve weeks of supervised exercise therapy" and the other surgery. In a two-year follow-up no difference in outcome was found between the two groups. The editorial accompanying the release of the study deemed the operation "a highly questionable practice without supporting evidence of even moderate quality," as evidence suggests that the relief patients experience is mostly a result of the placebo effect.

Bioenergy for burns

Energy healing is not just for sports injuries -- it can also help burns.

A few weeks ago I returned home to find police and emergency response personnel in my neighbourhood. It turned out that the child of a neighbour had somehow managed to fall on a hot barbecue, sustaining second degree burns to her hands and a large third degree burn to her leg.

I couldn't help on the spot because the girl was being tended to by paramedics, who then took her away to a hospital. But when she returned the next day, sporting large white bandages, I asked her and her dad for permission to treat her.

I love treating pets and children because they have no preconceived notions about energy healing and are therefore completely open to receiving it. This little girl giggled because she thought it felt "strange". First of all, her pain went away, and that was huge. She literally felt it being "pulled out". She also felt as if there were a cool breeze blowing over the burnt flesh (which was completely covered by bandages), soothing it. When I had her rest her leg on her dad's knee so I could treat her third-degree burn, he said "whoa!" because he too felt the "pulling out" sensation. And when we were done, she literally skipped to their door, a lot more cheerful and energetic than she had been when she came out to meet me.

When she saw the cosmetic surgeon the next day, the burns on her hands were well on their way to healing, the bandages were replaced with large band aids, and the doctor said there would be no scarring. In fact there hasn't been scarring -- her hands are good as new. She still wears a bandage on her leg to protect the newly healed skin from the sun, but she has already been swimming.

Shoulder surgery after dislocation? Not so fast!

A study conducted at St. Michael's hospital in Toronto found that those offered non-surgical options to aid their healing after dislocating their shoulder healed as well over a two-year period as the group that received surgery. More importantly, 3 months after the initial dislocation, 75% of those who were not in the surgical branch were cleared to return to work, while only 43% of those who received an operation were ready. In addition, 35% percent of the participants who underwent surgery had surgical complications, half of them major, and half minor. The only area where the surgical group performed better than the non-surgical group was satisfaction with the appearence of the injured shoulder. Read the full article here.

Osteoarthritic knee a lot better after energy healing

About a month ago I treated an elderly gentleman who came in limping with an osteoarthritic knee. I asked him to rate his pain level from 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being excruciating pain, and he replied "it's a ten! It's like a constant toothache!" After I treated him the pain went down to a 2, but he looked at me skeptically and asked "how long is this going to last?" I told him it could last a day, a week, a month, or the pain could be gone for good. Results are individual. He arched his bushy eyebrows and said "we'll see."

I saw him in passing today and asked him how his knee was doing. He said it was good that we ran into each other because he wanted another "magic treatment." I then asked him how long the pain relief lasted after he last saw me, and he said three weeks.

What pill can do that?

Update July 28th: The gentleman informs me that he hasn't needed any painkillers since the first treatment. He says he has almost forgotten that he had a knee problem, his knee feels that normal.

Update April 24th, 2016: Still no pain and the knee was fine all winter.

See also: "Three grateful clients who lost their knee pain"

"Physician, heal thyself!"

When we learn energy healing we are taught that self-healing is not as effective as healing others, but it can be done.

The day before yesterday I was cleaning out my locker when I turned to move something and suddenly felt a pop in the back of my leg just behind the knee and a sensation like warm water running down my calf. A pop like that is never good news and immediately afterwards I felt pain. Luckily it was not sharp pain but a dull ache that spread up my leg towards the hip and down into my calf. The good news was that I could still stand and also still walk, albeit with a slight limp. I limped over to a picnic table and sat down and gave the leg some energy. It got somewhat better, so I went back to work. But walking and standing made it worse again, so I took periodic energy healing breaks. BTW I was cleaning out the results of a mouse infestation, so stopping was not really an option.

After I finished the job of cleaning, a Reiki-trained friend came by and I asked him to treat my leg. The dull ache eased. Then overnight I applied cotton. I had learned both in my Reiki training and from Bill Bengston that natural substances can be charged with healing energy. Both cotton and water hold the "charge". So I charged some cotton and wrapped it around my leg. By morning it was about 80 per cent better, but I was still conscious of favouring it when I was walking. By afternoon I didn't even notice it. Today I ran for the streetcar and I noticed that my leg wasn't particularly happy about that little burst of unusual activity. So I will keep on treating it, and rest is probably a good idea too. I did some internet research and from what I see it's likely a small hamstring tear. That "pop" was quite reminiscent of what I felt when I tore my gastrocnemius back in 1995. I think it's a small tear because I am still standing. But I also think it's getting better a lot faster than it would have without energy.

This reminds of previous instances when I applied healing to injuries and then was told by a doctor or a physiotherapist on the follow-up visit that the injury was "a lot better than it had any right to be." I also had a root canal go bad once with the infection going up into bone and showing up as a cloudy halo on an x-ray. The dentist told me that the effect to the bone was likely permanent and if in subsequent x-rays the cloudy halo got bigger, he would send me to an endodontist to clean in out. Not a pleasant prospect, so I applied Reiki. On the next x-ray there was no halo. The dentist thought that was "interesting." I thought it was just great.

Update, May 25th: By mid-week, the leg was almost at 100%. Then yesterday I taught three karate classes and a fitness class, doing full kicks, stretches, and jumping jacks with not a single complaint from the leg or any negative after-effects. I'd say it's fixed.

A case of residual problems after knee surgery

I have a new student in my "Functional Fitness" class, a woman who has had both knees replaced. The first knee replacement was uneventful, but the second one left her with residual problems. One of the muscles attached to the knee doesn't work and she cannot straighten her leg fully. This results in balance problems, which means that in class she sometimes has to hold on to a chair with both hands to maintain her balance. She is finished with her physio.

We have been working on her balance, on straightening the leg, and on activating that one particular muscle. I gave her exercises and I've been treating her knee after every class she attends. Her balance is noticeably improved and she is able to straighten her leg more fully. This combination of exercise and energy healing is what I call "bioenergetic rehabilitation" and I recommend it after surgery. What I recommend even more, however, is having it before surgery, because it can make surgery altogether unnecessary or considerably delay the necessity of having it.