Positive Health Online

I asked my Morley College students and graduates for case studies about Cerebral Vascular Accidents or Strokes. I have worked with quite a few stroke patients over the last ten years with considerable success. We are looking to improve quality of life by helping to regain mobility and sensation and improve overall wellbeing. One client of mine, whom I remember with great fondness, had suffered five mini-strokes, or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), when I first met her. She was hemiplegic and dragged her right foot, had no use of her right hand and could not get into her own kitchen, which had a step down onto a different level of the bungalow. She loved the treatments and came regularly, about once a month, after some initial treatments closer together. Quite quickly we noticed improvement in her hand, and she was so delighted that she could move it again. I visited her house one time and, with tears in her eyes, she was able to take me into her kitchen, walking down the step and holding the small rail with her right hand. This meant so much to her and to me too. Some years later, she had a major stroke and died shortly after. When her husband came to tell me, he said that although he knew there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent the stroke because of her condition, he wanted me to know that the few years I had been treating her were the best she had had since suffering the first TIA some 15 years before. I had given her back control of her life. This is what complementary medicine is all about I think and why it should be integrated more into mainstream healthcare.

Treating a Stroke Patient

The following is an account by one of my current students on her experience with strokes:

After attending a talk at a local stroke support group, the patient was keen to try Neuroskeletal Realignment Therapy. Having had two strokes within a week of each other, in February 2005, caused by a blocked artery on the right side of the brain, she was now confined to a wheelchair. This patient has paralysis on the left side of the body and is unable to use the left arm or leg. As she no longer receives physiotherapy, there was a willingness to try other therapies to help with her on-going rehabilitation. 

Treatment 1: Following the initial consultation and general observation, the patient appeared to sit in a hunched position to her right side, almost trying to bear the weight of the paralyzed left side. I proceeded with the treatment while she remained in her wheelchair, working within her comfort zones. This did seem to work better than I had expected. Following the conclusion of the first treatment, the patient informed me that she was not experiencing the searing pain on the left side of her face or head. This occurred on a daily basis, between the hours of 1.00pm-1.30pm, right up until she went to bed every night with little or no relief from the prescribed painkillers. I called at 5.30pm that evening and her husband informed me that she was still pain free. However, when I called the following day the pain had returned.

Treatment 2: On arrival I was pleased that apart from the day following the treatment, the patient had remained pain free right up until the day before, which was good news!

Treatment 3: The patient still remains free from facial and head pain previously experienced on a daily basis.

Treatment 4: I arrived on this day to find that the patient’s husband had been admitted to hospital following a heart scare, with tests currently being carried out. We continued with the treatment this week and the patient reported experiencing some tingling sensations on her left arm. She was surprised by this, as she has had no feelings in this arm since her strokes in February 2005.

Treatment 5: The patient has been moved to a local respite care home while her husband recovers at home. On arrival, she appeared very depressed. I continued with the treatment as usual, and again she experienced the tingling in her left arm. The patient still remains pain free in her face and head. Her husband said that he was pleased with his wife’s progress and we discussed her posture, as she had started to sit straighter and no longer appeared as hunched.

Treatment 6: Patient remained unchanged and was looking forward to going home at the weekend. Still pain free.

Treatment 7: My patient surprised me on this day by showing how well she can now stand on her own. Moving her left leg into a stable position, she proceeded to stand and sit on her own three times in a row and, as she asked me to bring in her wheelchair, she was able to manoeuvre herself into her chair with no assistance. Her husband also informed me that since she had a fall in January 2006 she relied solely on him to lift and manoeuvre her into her wheelchair, having previously been afraid to do this on her own.

This is an on-going case, and I continue to treat the patient who is extremely happy with NSRT, finding the therapy very relaxing as well as beneficial. The first treatment gave some relief from the pain she had been experiencing on a daily basis, which seemed to improve considerably over the consecutive weeks.
Sue Woodcock NSRT student

Further Information

For more details on NSRT please contact Morley College, 61 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7HT; Tel: 020-7450 1889; enquiries@morleycollege.ac.uk; www.neuroskeletal.co.uk