Shiatsu Society

MY DOCTOR TOLD ME MY CONDITION WAS SOMETHING I HAD TO LIVE WITH - THEN I TRIED SHIATSU - 3 WEEKS LATER I COULD WALK AGAIN!

There is so much in the news at the moment about the NHS not being prepared to spend money on anything other than DRUGS that often, mask, but do not get to the root cause of conditions. Some GP's feel that Western Medicine offers the only cure. Shiatsu, a Japanese body therapy, is recognised by the NHS and available in some areas. This is my story on how Shiatsu cured me. I fell from quite a height straight on to the corner of a concrete slab. Within hours my leg was 3 times its normal size and a very hard lump appeared below my knee. I rang Jeanne Heppell, a Shiatsu Practitioner who practices at the Belper Natural Health Centre. As the injury was serious, she insisted that I had an xray and saw my GP. before she would give me a Shiatsu treatment.

The doctor took one look at my leg and I was rushed to the D R I with a suspected blood clot. I had massive internal bleeding, my foot was black and too painful to put to the floor. I was given a tubigrip bandage and sent home. The doctor said that the lump was unlikely to go. If it did, it could take years and I would have to live with it. He said I would probably never be able to kneel again or walk normally. I was still in pain, my leg was very swollen and I could not put my foot to the floor.

I WAS DEVASTATED, MY CAREER DEPENDS ON MY BEING ABLE TO KNEEL AND MOVE EASILY. Jeanne Heppell gave me a Shiatsu treatment. She worked on the lymphatic system to reduce the swelling and then worked on my knee to disperse the lump. The pressure immediately eased from my leg that was previously so bad it felt as if it was about to burst! I WALKED BACK TO MY CAR!!!! The following week Jeanne gave me another treatment and afterwards the swelling was GREATLY reduced. By the third treatment the bone like lump below my knee HAD GONE!!!!!

This is the second time that Western Medicine could do nothing for me, and the second time that Shiatsu cured me. I know Shiatsu is amazing but I am glad that I suffered the injury so that I had the proof for myself. I would not be back to normal today without the amazing power of Shiatsu.

Alzheimers - request

I have been treating someone with Alzheimers since July last year. His doctors cannot understand why he is improving as this condition never improves. He has regular Shiatsu and I also recommended pure Norwegian Salmon Oil. When I first met him, he could not speak to me, his wife answered all questions for him. He could not move his limbs, especially lower limbs, which descended in painfully slow, jerky movements. He was depressed, withdrawn, and his eyes looked "dead". Ten months on and he now speaks to me direct. He speaks to total strangers, has started laughing and cracking jokes, his eyes look alive and a week ago he and his wife went on their first holiday in 5 years. She would like me to pass this information on to the Shiatsu Society and to ask if anyone else has had a similar story with an Alzheimer sufferer.

Alzheimers - Success Story

To the Shiatsu Society - Shiatsu Success Story (Alzheimers)

** STOP PRESS **   Morris Robinson saw his specialist recently who normally saw him several times a year.  He cannot explain why Morris continues to maintain this level of improvement, why his speech is so much improved but HE HAS SIGNED HIM OFF FOR A YEAR.

I would like the Shiatsu Society to have this story as it could help other Alzheimers sufferers to have the chance to improve, just as my husband has. Alzheimers is a terrible condition, not only for the person concerned but also for the families of those people, who watch them steadily go down hill. It is devastating.
My husband has suffered with Alzheimers for some years now. Last July, our local newspaper printed a story about a story about a group of people from the Nottingham Schoold of Shiatsu (Tracy Footit, Rakesh Verma and Yvette Sinclair-France) who gave free Shiatsu at a Mind Body Spirit Fayre, so that people could try it. We had tried everything to help my husband, but nothing worked and I watched him become more and more depressed about his condition. For years he would not speak to people, as he stumbled over his words and felt embarrassed. His eyes looked dead, he withdrew into a little world of his own and was understandably depressed. He also had difficulty with movement.
I wondered if Shiatsu would help him. I found out that one of the practitioners who had given Shiatsu at the event lives in this area. We booked immediately. She told me that she could not claim that Shiatsu could relieve Alzheimers but was willing to see him.
My husband had Shiatsu and the effect was instant! I sat with him during the session and was amazed, as I watched him relax for the first time in years. His eyes looked alive afterwards and he was smiling. Over the months of having regular Shiatsu his speech has improved and now he speaks to total strangers - a thing he would never have done before - he is so much improved that he has been cracking jokes with the family and laughing - it's so good to see it!
He is now able to move his limbs with far more control and a few weeks ago he got up and danced with me. Not only that, but because he is so much better we went on holiday a few weeks ago for the first time in ages. This is something that was not possible before.

It has now been over a year since Morris started having Shiatsu. At first I was told not to get my hopes up, as it may be that he was just having a good spell, but after a year the improvement cannot be considered anything short of a real success story for this amazing therapy.
We have written to the Alzheimer's Society in London, Derby and Nottingham and hope they will contact us and pass this message on to other sufferer's. Morris and I contacted Radio Nottingham to see if they would help us to spread the word about Shiatsu. We appeared live on Radio Nottingham in September along with the Shiatsu Practitioner who treated Morris, and Jeanne Heppell - Principal of the Midlands School.
By the end of 2006 Morris and I enjoyed 4 holidays, we are doing lots of gardeneing and home improvements together and Morris went on a 8 mile walk - before he sat in a chair - before Shiatsu!!
I have no idea if Shiatsu would work on everyone, but I understand that Shiatsu practitioners in the UK are also having good results with Alzheimer's sufferers so I really do urge people to try it. We were contacted by the Alzheimer's Society to ask if we were willing to take part in media work to discuss the improvement Morris has achieved through Shiatsu and immediately agreed as we want to help other sufferers. We want to make their carer's aware that there is help for them too!

Shiatsu have me by husband back, not cured of course, but more like his old self that I could ever have imagined was possible.

Mrs Robinson
Heanor, Derbyshire

Research - The Systematic Evidence Review for Shiatsu

The Systematic Evidence Review for Shiatsu has now been published. This Review was commissioned by the Shiatsu Society from the Centre for Complementary Healthcare and Integrated Medicine at Thames Valley University.

The Review critically appraises 5 scientific trials of Shiatsu and 41 trials of Acupressure, and details over 200 other trials in its appendices.

The Shiatsu studies provide very limited evidence on a diverse range of health issues (angina, low back pain, fibromyalgia, chemotherapy side effects/anxiety and inducing labour).

Studies on acupressure provided fairly strong evidence for its use in the treatment of pain. Evidence for acupressure for nausea and vomiting was inconsistent, with the strongest evidence for post-operative nausea. Weak evidence for renal symptoms and COPD/asthma was found. The remaining acupressure studies provided evidence of variable quality on psycho-social health issues and consciousness/anaesthesia.

There are 2 versions of the report, a brief version of this review without appendices and the whole version of this review with appendices. Both can be downloaded from the research section of the downloads page.

How Shiatsu Can Help with Particular Conditions

Shiatsu has proven to be effective for a wide range of conditions. Shiatsu practitioners hold a wealth of experience concerning the effectiveness of Shiatsu. The documents below form a resource that will be of benefit to both those new to Shiatsu wishing to find out more as well those with more experience wishing to broaden their appreciation of
Shiatsu in practice.
This resource has been gathered by The Shiatsu Society and the documents have been provided by members of the Shiatsu Society based on their own research and experience.
Please contact the Shiatsu Society if you wish to contribute any success stories or related information (please note that decisions concerning inclusion of any material will be subject to review of suggested material by the Shiatsu Society).

Shiatsu & AIDS /HIV
Shiatsu & Alzheimer's
Shiatsu & Arthritis
Shiatsu & Asthma
Shiatsu & Back Problems
Shiatsu & Cancer
Shiatsu & Carers
Shiatsu & Chronic Obstruct Pulmonary Disease
Shiatsu & Depression
Shiatsu & Digestive Problems
Shiatsu & Drug / Substance / Alcohol Abuse / Hepatitis C
Shiatsu & Headaches / Migraines
Shiatsu & Heart Problems
Shiatsu & Hysterectomy
Shiatsu & IBS / Bowel Problems
Shiatsu & Insomnia
Shiatsu & Joint Problems
Shiatsu & Knee Problems
Shiatsu & Low Energy
Shiatsu & M.E.
Shiatsu & Menstrual Problems
Shiatsu & Mental Health
Shiatsu & Mulitple Sclerosis
Shiatsu & Musculoskeletal Problems
Shiatsu & Neck Pain
Shiatsu & Pain Management
Shiatsu & Pallative Care
Shiatsu & Panic Attacks
Shiatsu & Pregnancy
Shiatsu & Psychological Problems
Shiatsu & Raynauds
Shiatsu & Rheumatism
Shiatsu & Sciatica
Shiatsu & Shoulder Pain
Shiatsu & Stress
Shiatsu & Ulcerative Colitis