Does reflexology improve quality of life at end of life?

With a 50% chance of a cancer diagnosis and a 50% chance of surviving cancer, cancer will touch all our lives.

Cancer Research statistics

  • 1 in 2 people born after 1960 in the UK will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime.
  • 50% survive cancer for 10 or more years.

While cancer survival rates are on the way up, unfortunately people still die of cancer.

I want to share the details of a small randomised control trial of reflexology for cancer patients during the end of life stage of cancer.  The study showed reflexology improved the quality of life for patients in 16 areas,  the greatest improvements were in:

  1. appetite
  2. breathing
  3. constipation & diarrhea
  4. fears of the future
  5. pain
  6. nausea
  7. sleep
  8. communication
  9. tiredness

Urination & mood improved equally in the patients in the group receive reflexology and the placebo group who received a foot massage.

This study shows reflexology can be helpful in improving quality of life for cancer patients during the difficult end of life stage.

Reference:

Hodgeson, N.  Nursing Standard – London, 14(31), pp. 33–38.

 

Related Posts

  • Tips for a healthy large intestine

    Following on from my bowel health checklist.  I want to focus on the large intestine whose job is to take all the remaining water and nutrients our any any food that comes its way and turn whats left into compact stools.  When things start going wrong with your large intestine, you usually get inflamation and this can lead to a range of symptoms including:

    • Stomach pain
    • Cramps
    • Bloating
    • Flatulence
    • frequent diarrhoea or constipation
    So here are my tips to improve your large intestine: Drink more water and eat more fibre Increasing the amount of water your drink and upping your fibre intake with foods like well cooked brown rice, oatmeal, prunes, kiwi fruit or flaxseeds.  This should produce at least one bowel movment a day and will avoid undigested waste sitting around in your gut. Get Moving A sedetary lifestyle can slow down your bowels. Take slippery elm capsules. A natural way to ease constipation. Minimise stress levels Stress upsets your digestion and reduced your bacteriodetes levels. Eat more vegetables Bacteriodetes love fruits, beans, pulses and fibre so east lots of them.  Where as firmicutes thrive on fat and sugar so eat less sugar! Up your selenium High levels of selenium are linked to low colon cancer risk.  So increase your intake of brazil nuts, slamon, onions, oats and brown rice as they are high in selenium. Eat a wide variety of foods Diversity of foods equals a diversity of gut bacteria. References https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4421088/  

  • So how does massage reduce pain? – Part 2

    Previously I explained the scientific theory for  "How does massage reduce muscle pain?" in the short term .  But what about the long term? I would like to introduce to you the "descending pain suppression mechanism." The brain is not a passive receiver of sensory messages, but rather a centre that interprets them and makes constant adjustments accordingly. For example, everyone knows that the way you perceive pain will be influenced by whether you focus on it or think of something else instead. And it seems reasonable to suppose that evolutionary selection may have favoured those individuals who could ignore pain signals for long enough to take actions that let them escape and survive danger.

    Unpleasant cutaneous sensations stimulate nuclei within the mid brain.  These nuclei in turn initiate activity in the descending spinal tracts that release endogenous opiates (inhibitory neurotransmitters) within the spinal segment receiving the painful input.  This diminishes the intensity of the pain transmitted to the higher centres. Sports and Deep Tissue massage techniques can reinforce a naturally occurring discomfort, causing much greater release of opiates and achieve a more profound pain suppression.

    References Basbaum A, Fields H.  (1978) Endogenous pain control mechanisms: review and hypothesis.  Ann Neurol 4: 451-2. Watson J (1982) Pain mechanisms: a review.  3. Endogenous pain mechanisms.  Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 27: 135-43

  • Can massage and reflexology help clients with bladder cancer?

    Patients who have a cystectomy following bladder cancer may benefit from massage and reflexology to reduce pain and improve wellbieng, according to a pilot. The pilot sevice provided 38 cystectompy patients with one hour of massage, reflexology of a combination the day after they had surgery and this was followed by another one hour treatment two days later. Self-reported concerns, wellbeing and pain were measure before and imediately after each treatment and in the evening of each therapy day.  Common concerns among patients included pain at the wound site, anxiety, nausea and bloating. Self-reported concerns, wellbing and pain were significantly reduced after treatments.  These results were maintained on the evening of the day one but not on day three. Reference https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1744388118304316?via%253Dihub=