All India Association of Acupressure Reflexology (Regd.

) January—March 2010
Volume 2, Issue 1

Inside this issue

Case by Madhu Seth ................... 2

Reflexology & Massage ............... 2

Message by President AIAAR ...... 3

Laughter Cartoons ...................... 3

Back Pain by I.P. Bahl .................. 4

Causes of Back Pain..................... 7

Understand Blood Reports .......... 8

Special points of interest

 The approach is fundamentally

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 different for reflexology &
massage.
AIAAR ® wishes all our members a happy and prosperous year 2010.
 Spine is an engineering marvel
The new office team had completed one year in office and was able to keep up the name of nature.
in International circuit of ‘REFLEXOLOGY’. We had published four issues of ‘Sole  BUN is a waste product derived
Searching’ on time. Also arranged a talk on ‘Epilepsy’ by Dr. Krishna Dalal at Habitat from protein breakdown in the
Centre, and printed a brochure on ‘What is Foot Reflexology?’ for awareness to the liver.
general public.  Back pain generally comes from
strained muscles and ligaments.
This all was not be possible without your support. We thank you for your kind
cooperation and seeks the same in future also. By GENERAL SECRETARY
 Case by Madhu Seth
This is a case of a daughter of well known (55), reflexes relating to nervous and
orthopedic who was endocrine systems,
suffering from sciatica diaphragm (1) and
pain for 15 days solar plexus (2) to
before approaching release her mental
me. She was being pressure & stress.
given all the required Reflexes for kidney
medical treatment was given great
through conventional importance in this
way. But she case to enable
remained bed-ridden release of toxicity
for that long. from body.

I started giving her a By the end of first

complete reflexology session she was able
treatment session concentrating more on the to move a little in her room. By the end of 4th
reflexes of the lower spine(47-48), sciatic sitting she was able to walk freely. After 8th
point (49), sciatic helper area (57), pelvic area session she was able to tackle staircases on

Some people confuse reflexology with massage. 'Touch' is used in both massage
and reflexology. But the approach is fundamentally different!

How reflexology relates to acupressure and

Foot Reflexology
massage!
In reflexology, certain points and areas on the feet and the hands, correspond to a
specific organ, bone and body system. Reflexologists access these points on the feet
and hands, to affect organs and systems throughout the entire body. How does
reflexology relate to other acupressure and massage?

Reflexology is similar to acupressure in that it works with the body’s vital energy through the
stimulation of certain points on the body. However, you should be aware that acupressure points
do not always coincide with the reflex points used in reflexology!

However, reflexology and acupressure are so-called “reflex” therapies. These therapies work
with certain points of the body, in order to affect other parts of the body. One major difference is
that in reflexology the reflexologist uses reflexes that are in an orderly arrangement resembling a
shape of the human body on the feet, hands. While in acupressure the therapist uses over 800
reflex points that are found along long thin energy lines called meridians - which run the length
of the entire body.
Massage Some people confuse reflexology with massage. 'Touch' is used in both massage and reflexology.
But the approach is fundamentally different!

Massage is the systematic manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. Masseurs use specific
massage techniques (for example: tapping, kneading, stroking, friction), and the goal is to relax
the muscles. In reflexology the focus is on maps of reflex points and areas of the body in the feet
and hands,- using unique micro movement techniques such as for example: thumb or finger
walking, hook and backup in order to create a response throughout the body. In short, massage
therapists work “from the outside in,” - manipulating specific muscle groups (fascia) to release
tension. While reflexologists see themselves as working “from the inside out” - stimulating the
nervous system to release muscle tension.

2 Another major difference between massage and reflexology is that during a reflexology
treatment, the client will stay fully clothed - except for removing footwear. Whereas massage
clients remove clothing for a massage session.
Correct & Incorrect Postures

Message by Kusam Aggarwal– President AIAAR

Dear colleagues,

Wish you a very happy new year 2010.

As reflexologists, nature has given us knowledge to help people to achieve good

health and to reduce their pains and sufferings.

Let us resolve in this new year to do our best and help humanity.

We all have various experiences, when people suffering with back pain have
been helped with reflexology.

I am presenting here a case done by me here in chandil [small place in

Jharkhand]. I happened to meet an engineer suffering from acute back pain for
last two months. My husband advised him to try reflexology.

His pain was starting from back and going to left leg and was unbearable in the
groin area. While working I found, along with spine, hip, sciatic, lower back and
groin reflex, his eyes reflexes were very tender on both feet. On enquiring
he told that all medical reports are fine but he feels lots of stress in eyes and
finds it difficult to keep them open.

I worked on whole foot giving special emphasis on related and tender points.
After third session he felt the relief. No pain occurs for whole day even while
working in factory. Even eyes were relaxed and normal.

This proves the power nature has given us as a reflexologist, who help produce
back the smile and restore normalcy at any place.

So friends enjoy the new year.

3

DISCS
The discs which are natures
shock absorbers occupy
wedge shaped space be-
tween the adjoining verte-
brae. The discs has two
parts:
BACK PAIN by I.P. Bahl
Back pain is one of the commonest
physical condition. Most adults have
experienced at some stage in their lives.
Pain anywhere in the back, from the base
of skull to the tail bone, in the middle of
the back and to the sides covering whole
of neck and back is called back pain. Back
pain is mostly related to different parts of
the spine. Since mostly back pain are
related to the spine, let us discuss the
spine.
Spine is an engineering marvel of nature. It
is not a single bone, but articulated
alignment of 26 hollow group of odd shape
bones known as vertebrae (See Fig 1). Fig. 1
Vertebrae in each part of the spine are:

Cervical 7 Nerves 8
Thoracic 12 Nerves 12
The component of spine are:
The Annulus fibrosus – the Lumbar 5 Nerves 5
outer hard layer. (Lower Back)
Sacrum Nerves 5
The Nucleus pulposus – the
inner soft ball shaped core (5 fused vertebrae)
The inner nucleus pulposus Coccyx(Tail Bone) Nerves 1
contains thick jelly like fluid
(4 fused vertebrae)
which absorbs heavy
shocks. Total Vertebrae 26 Nerves 31

Each vertebrae is separated from

Very often back problem is
caused by strain or injury to
spinal discs, which results
from over exercise or heavy
physical work.
vertebrae above and below by a cushion
pad called disc. The discs are natures
shock absorbers. They make the spine
supple. You can bend the spine in all the
directions, twist it and swivel it.
The hollow portion of all vertebrae match
to form a tunnel. The function of this
tunnel is to house and protect the spinal
cord. The spinal cord is apart of the central
nervous system (CNS) and thirty one pairs
of nerves emanate there from (See Fig 1)
the spinal cord to connect various parts of
the body to the CNS.
From cervical to lumbar the size of
vertebrae gradually increases. Nature has
co-related the size with load bearing
necessity.
Vertebrae, spinal cord, spinal nerves,
intervertebral discs:
There is lot of variation in the type of pain,
which may be dependent on the location
having different symptoms and different
causes as explained below:
NECK PAIN (Cervical pain):
Symptoms: Pain in the neck, sometimes
radiating to shoulder or arm or to the top
of head. You can also have stiffness in the
neck, headache/migraine, pain radiating to
the eyes, pin & needle pain in the neck
and arm and dizziness.
CAUSES:A sharp blow to the head, trauma

4
 BACK PAIN Contd..
PAIN IN MID BACK (Thoracic Spine)
Symptoms: Pain between shoulder blades or pain inside shoulder blades,

Pain under left breast. Very often thoracic pain is accompanied by neck
pain and lumbar pain.
CAUSES: Chronic muscle and ligament strain due to stressful postures. Direct trauma
to thoracic spine, disc prolapsed, Tuberculosis in region of thoracic spine. Majority of
cases of pain in mid back are those who adopt faulty postures for long time like
students, computer workers, typists, and mothers who lift their child
frequently.
LOWE BACK PAIN (Lumbar Pain)

Pain in lumbar region is most common, mostly from mechanical causes like
lifting of heavy weights, bending and twisting, prolonged driving, standing and
sitting in abnormal postures.

“From cervical to lumbar the size of vertebrae

gradually increases. Nature has co-related the size
with load bearing necessity”.

Other causes are: Prolapsed reflexology as first choice. I am

intervertbral discs, spondylosis of lumbar
spine, congenital abnormalities of spine,
sometimes psychological depression,
obesity, alcohol and smoking.
There can be some unspecified causes
also like kidney problem, heart problem.
When the causes are pathological, the
specialist physician should be consulted.
If the pathological conditions are cured,
the secondary backaches will dis appear
of their own.
THE TREATMENT
There are a number of therapies
handling cases of back pain; orthopedics,
chiropractors, naturopaths, masseurs,
acupuncturists and reflexologists. Each
one has its own merits and own
limitations.
How to exercise the choice of therapy,
from my experience of reflexology with
convincing results, I would recommend
recording some case histories to
give idea of the efficacy of
reflexology.
Dr AK himself a post graduate
orthopedic doctor, working in orthopedic
deptt. of AIIMS. He got attack of back
pain twelve days before his marriage.
The anxiety of family members and
relatives who has come from far and
near was natural. You may imagine the
rituals involved in an Indian marriage
and the groom not fit enough even to go
to bathroom. I came to know of his
sickness from a third party. Since he had
been my student in reflexology, I went to
see him even without any appointment.
Ten days effort of his own department
could not produce satisfactory results. In
reflexology all that he needed was two
sessions of reflexology treatment. And
the result was that marriage went so
well as if nothing had happened to him in
the last few days.

5
MANAGEMENT
Mostly the back pains are
caused by injuries or stressful
postures. Therefore adopt
general rules as indicated be-
low:
 Keep your body erect
while sitting, standing and
walking. It will keep the
vertebrae in alignment.
 Maintain lordosis.
 Never bend forward with
knees straight.
 Bend with care. When
lifting weights keep your
spine straight.
 Build strength to bear
strains
 Avoid high heel shoes as
they can cause vertebrae
out of alignment.
 Avoid girdles and skin
tight jeans as they can
weakness stomach mus-
cles which help in support
the spine.
 Do not lift weights by
keeping your legs straight.
Mothers with babies have
to be careful as they have
to lift them frequently.
 Heavy weights is not
good. It can cause back
problems.
NOTE
Reflexology is very effective
in cases of backache, but the
only condition is that the
reflexologist should be a
qualified one.
Those who have qualified
from All India Association of
Acupressure Reflexology ®
have been issued with
Certificates.
6
BACK PAIN Contd..
NB 35, a family member of the owners of
a big hospital was put under traction for
a severe attack of lower back pain. I was
invited to give reflexology treatment. I
got the traction removed. I worked on
him for about 20 minutes. He was asked
to walk a little in the room, so that I could
see his response to the treatment. He did
walk and remarked “ the traction was
removed in the morning as well to enable
me to go to bathroom, but with great
difficulty I could walk, now I am walking
with comparative ease”. His remark was
encouraging of response. The next
session was with a gap of one day. On
second session he could walk with more
ease. The third session was again with a
gap of one day. What I saw on third day
was that he had already left the bed and
was having mock bout of boxing with his
sister in-law who had come to look him
up. Seeing him in that state I asked him if
he needed anymore treatment. He replied
“ I do not think I need further treatment,
but one more treatment will remove the
fear of relapse from my mind”.
One day I returned from the market. I
was surprised to see an ambulance in
front of my house. Being alone in the
house, I thought there could be some
emergency in the neighbourhood and the
ambulance in front of my house was only
parking convenience. Then I thought that
I should put the little grocery in my hand
inside and then enquire from the
neighbourhood, the cause of the
ambulance. When I entered my house the
first room was my clinic, there were two
TREATMENT & MANAGEMENT
I would like to record all the reflex points which need attention. The chart indicating
reflexes of the whole body is attached. The chart references is shown against each in
brackets.
For back ache the reflexes are whole spine (45, 46, 47, 48) with great attention to the
affected area, knee/hip/leg (50), hip/sciatic/lower back (51), shoulders (in case of
cervical pain)(20), Diaphragm (1), Adrenals (9).
For MANAGEMENT OF BACK PAIN SEE SIDE BOX.
doctors waiting for me. They had brought
a patient all the way from Brindavan. The
patient was of severe lower back ache.
The doctors told me that they had no idea
of reflexology, not ever since the patient
read my article in NBT on reflexology, he
was insisting to be taken to me. One
doctor was the owner of a diagnostic
centre who was the brother of the
patient. The other doctor was a
orthopedic one who had been treating
the patient for more than a week without
satisfactory results. With great difficulty
the two doctors brought the patent to my
clinic from the ambulance. As per the
normal practice I asked the patient to sit
in the chair and put his feet on the stool
to enable me to do foot reflexology. The
patient flatly refused saying that the
posture of sitting in a chair he could not
bear at all. The bed cum sofa in my room
was converted in to abed and the patient
was make to lie there on. About twenty
minutes foot reflexology treatment was
given and the patient was asked to try if
he could stand up. Not only he did stand
up of his own, he started walking in the
room. The response was so very pleasing
for me. The two doctors were simply
wonder stuck. As a reflexologist it was
very pleasing for me to see the patient
moving up to the ambulance with his own
steam. The orthopedic doctor remarked “I
wish I could do your course”, but coming
twice a week from long distance was not
possible.
From the above three case histories one
should be convinced how useful
Some more causes of Back Pain

In many cases of back pain, the cause is really difficult to determine. As your lower back bears most of the weight and stress of your body, the
pain generally comes from the strained muscles and ligaments caused due to heavy lifting or an awkward body movement. The obvious cause
behind the back pain remains hidden in most of the cases. However several factors are responsible for generating new back problems or
exacerbating the existing ones. These are clustered in to five categories:

Arthritis- This refers to the inflammation of the joints or pain that occurs in the joints. The various forms of arthritis that can cause back pain
are:

1. Osteoarthritis- It is the most common type of arthritis caused by the breakdown of the joint cartilage over time. Cartilage cushions the
joints but when it deteriorates bones rub against each other resulting in pain, stiffness and loss of movement.

2. Rheumatoid arthritis- This is also marked by inflammation and stiffness of the joints and undergoes three phases which are inflammation,
thickening and joint damage. This disease results in loss of mobility, weakness and deformity.

3. Ankylosing Spondylitis- This disease generally attacks the spine area leading to stiffness of the back. In it the joints and ligaments behind
the movement of back become inflamed resulting in their fusion. It starts with the initial pain in the sacroiliac joints.

4. Hip Osteoarthritis- It refers to the breakdown of cartilage in the hip joint causing back, hip and leg pain. People with hip arthritis have
limitations in their hip motion.

5. Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm- In case of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, abdominal disorders extend and radiate to the back and are felt as
acute low back pain. It is represented by a large aorta (or a large artery) in the abdomen. In case if the large blood vessels start leaking then it
can cause severe abdomen and back pain. Large quantity of blood loss will result in hypotension, unconsciousness or death.

6. Fibromyalgia- is characterized by musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and tenderness in the local areas of the spine, neck, shoulders and hips
known as ''tender points''. These points hurt when the pressure is applied on them. Middle aged women are most affected by this disease.
The symptoms of this disease include difficulty in sleeping, feeling tired after sleep, headaches, numbness in hands and feet and depression.

7. Osteoporosis- It refers to the skeletal disorder in which the bones become thin, brittle and more prone to fractures. It commonly affects
women after menopause due to estrogen deficiency leading to compression fracture of vertebrae which in turn leads to back pain. Adequate
calcium intake and weight bearing exercise prevents osteoporosis. Back pain is caused if the vertebral body becomes so weak t hat it can no
longer withstand stress applied to it or if the patient has minor trauma.

Some of the other causes of back pain include:

1.Tumors- Spinal column tumors come from tumors in the breast, kidney, lungs and thyroid. These tumors produce pain which is worst at
night time. Some metastatic tumors have symptoms like unplanned weight loss, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting.

2. Automobile accidents- Automobile accidents also cause back pain as they make the body accept large amount of energy in a short period
of time resulting in damaging muscles, ligaments and tendons.

3.Back pain during pregnancy- Most pregnant women experience low back pain in their third trimester of pregnancy having pain in the
sacroiliac joints. This pain is due to extra weight and hormonal factors that widen the sacroiliac joints and increase the si ze of birth canal.

4.Sacroiliac joint dysfunction- Sacroiliac joint is one which connects sacrum with the pelvis. Sometimes pain is felt in these sacroiliac joints
due to limitations in its normal motion patterns. It is more common in young or middle aged women.

5.Other factors are poor posture and body mechanics, emotional stress, excessive weight and obesity, herniated discs, sickle cell anemia,
whiplash, cancer pain, diabetes, spinal stenosis, piriformis syndrome and age factor.

So, these are some of the most common causes of back pain. If you are suffering from back pain, you must get your cause known and go for
the suitable treatment in order to get rid of this irritating and painful disease.

7
 All India Association of Acu-
pressure Reflexology (R)
AIAAR is a registered body registered
under SR Act of XXI of 1860. No.
S/25886 of 1994.
The first get-together was held on
19th June 1994.
The first Bulletin namely “AIAAR
BULLETIN” was published in Decem-
ber 1994.
AIAAR also helped Doordarshan (DD)
to make a thirteen episodes serial for
spreading awareness and was aired
from 7th January 1995 on DD Chan-
nel.
All India Association of
Acupressure Reflexology (R)
63 Ganga Apartment
Alaknanda
New Delhi-110019
Phone: 26020405
E-mail: aiaar94@gmail.com
NEXT ISSUE WILL BE ON
Send your case studies/
experiences by March 31, 2010
Understand your Blood Tests Reports
BLOOD UREA NITROGEN (BUN): BUN is a waste product derived from protein breakdown in the
liver. Increases can be caused by excessive protein intake, kidney damage, certain drugs, low
fluid intake, intestinal bleeding, exercise, heart failure or decreased digestive enzyme production
by the pancreas. Decreased levels are most commonly due to inadequate protein intake,
malabsorption, or liver damage.
Clinical Adult Range: 10-26 mg/dL Optimal Adult Range: 13-18 mg/dL Red Flag Range <5 or >50
mg/dL
Common Causes of BUN Increase: Renal disease, gout, drug diuretics
Common Causes of BUN Decrease: Pregnancy, protein malnutrition
Less Common Causes of BUN Increase: Metallic poisoning, pneumonia, ulcers, Addison’s disease,
increased protein catabolism, dysbiosis, congestive heart failure.
Less Common Causes of BUN Decrease: Acute liver destruction, dysbiosis, celiac sprue.
Nutrition Tip: Increased BUN may indicate a Boron deficiency
We already had covered Sodium, Urea, Potassium, Glucose, Magnesium & Chloride in
our previous issues.
AIAAR ® OFFICE & GOVERNING BODY
2009-2011
OFFICE BEARERS
Founder & Patron I.P. Bahl
President Kusam Aggarwal
Vice President Sheila Bhargava
General Secretary Kuldeep Mongaa
Joint Secretary Manjula Hanagodu
Treasurer P. Madhuri
GOVERNING BODY Dr. Krishna Dalal, Trilok Singh, R.B. Verma,
Dr. Usha Vishwanath, Madhu Seth, Veena Nanda