Finding the Right Combination
Reiki-ssage, Chiropractic and Cerebral palsy

By Carol Englehaupt

My 22-year-old son Joshua has cerebral palsy. He's multi- physically disabled, meaning he is challenged in many different areas. He's non-ambulatory and non-verbal, and he is unable to dress or feed himself. Despite the physical limitations, he has normal intelligence and possesses a wonderful sense of humor. He's also a talented watercolor artist and leads a busy, productive life. Joshua managed to avoid a lot of the orthopedic problems that can accompany cerebral palsy. Some children develop feet and leg deformities and must have corrective surgeries or wear braces on their legs and feet. Some children with cerebral palsy have scoliosis, at times so severe that the vertebrae have to be fused to stabilize the spine. Pneumonia and lung problems can occur and osteoporosis is a very real worry. We've been very lucky that Joshua has not had any surgeries related to the cerebral palsy, but difficulties eventually started to arise as he grew older.

First, his hip started showing signs of a pressure sore. A slight scoliosis of the spine was becoming more prevalent causing one side of his back to become noticeably higher than the other. He complained of pain in his back, and his knees were beginning to have contractures from sitting in the wheel chair. He was losing some range of motion in his shoulders and his body was showing increased tightness. To top it off, his hips were twisting, causing his left leg to turn inward.

As a parent I started looking for solutions. I wanted a way to prevent future problems and surgeries, and to reverse the problems I was al-ready seeing. When Dr. Sean Gibbs and Dr. Christa Velos opened Riverside Chiropractic in our community in Seneca, Ill., I started getting regular chiropractic care for myself. Joshua accompanied me whenever I would go, and became familiar with the happenings of the office. I was impressed with Dr. Velos' manner. She was gentle in her adjustments and when I discovered she was trained in chiropractic pediatrics I thought, "If she can do adjustments on infants, why can't she help my son?"

I asked if she would be willing to take Joshua on as a patient. I'm not sure what I expected; I only knew I wanted Joshua's back pain to be eased. I thought the work might increase the circulation in his back, but it didn't occur to me there might be actual, physical changes.

At his first session, the doctor and I learned it would take both of us to position Joshua on the table. When the doctor works on my son's back, I sit at his head and place my hands under his shoulders. This helps to stabilize Joshua on the table and keeps his head elevated slightly so he can breathe more easily. When Velos works on his neck, I give my son support on each side of his head to keep it midline. This allows her to feel where the vertebrae are and make her adjustments.

Then it takes both of us to turn Joshua onto his back. At first his body was so twisted I was able to perch on the side of the table and hold both of his hands. This helped him to keep his head midline so Velos could work on his neck, shoulders and scalp.

It wasn't long before I realized we were onto something extraordinary. I still remember the session when we turned him from his stomach to his back and both of his arms floated outward. Instead of his upper body being twisted and his left arm curled up in a tight reflex pattern, I saw both arms extended out from his body in a normal, relaxed manner. This caused his chest to open up and expand, allowing his breathing to improve. I saw this increase of oxygen manifest in many ways, including the fact that his fingernails - often having a blue tinge to them - were now a healthy, pink color.

I was seeing other improvements as well. I noticed he was chewing better and losing less food in the process. His swallowing was improving, which led to less drooling. Each session brought a change. To my untrained eyes, it seemed to start at the shoulders and work its way down his body. I was seeing a layer of muscle starting to cover his rib cage. His back lost the uneven look it had shown before. And when positioned on his stomach, his shoulder blades would now lie flat.

After a year of treatment, I learned the chiropractic group was going to add a massage therapist to their staff. Again, I started to think this was something that could help Joshua. They hired Vicki Fields, a certified reiki master and a certified "reiki-ssage" therapist.

Joshua and I knew what reiki was as we had both attended the level- one and level-two classes offered at our local junior college and had received our attunements for those levels. We knew and understood about energy healing, so the idea of combining massage with reiki made perfect sense to us. Reiki-ssage, an integration of massage and energy work developed by Rick and Connie Vrenios, seemed a natural progression. When I asked Joshua if he wanted to get massages, he was excited.

What I hoped to see from the massage/reiki therapy was relaxation. Because of his cerebral palsy and the subsequent tightening of muscles, it seemed to me that Joshua was never totally relaxed, except when he was asleep.

Starting Massage
As with the chiropractic treatments, it takes both the therapist and myself to put Joshua on the massage table. The first session took 30 minutes before Joshua was able to relax enough to lie flat. The second session only took 10 minutes to achieve the same level of relaxation. We've found massage therapy is stimulating his circulation and working muscles Joshua isn't able to work on his own. He is gaining weight, his muscle tone is normalizing and his reflex patterns are changing. At first, when the therapist was working with Joshua's arms, he would have to turn his head in rather odd ways to work around the reflex. To extend his left arm he would have to remember to turn his head to the right. In the last few sessions, we have noticed he no longer has to go around the reflex. Slowly and carefully he is moving through the reflex. As a parent, this is exciting for me to see.

Even though Joshua is non-verbal, he and the therapist have worked out a system. She points to parts of the body on a chart and he tells her "yes" or "no." He says "yes" by looking up; a quick, slightly upward look means "yes, it hurts a little"; and a big look to the ceiling means "it hurts a lot." They are getting very good at non-verbal communication and I'm always there to interpret if it's needed.

I make sure Joshua gets a massage every two weeks. Because of his physical limitations and the long hours spent in the wheelchair, I think it's important for him to have his body worked on. It feels good to him and the physical benefits are noticeable. I am constantly surprised at the efforts he makes to participate in his therapy. I've never seen him so actively involved before.

In looking back on the treatment Joshua has received, I realize we have stumbled onto an ideal combination. Chiropractic works on the nervous system. As cerebral palsy is a problem that originates in the brain, the goal of chiropractic care is to help the brain function at its optimum capability. It does this by removing interference from the nervous system. What I had hoped to gain from the reiki-ssage was simple relaxation. Again, the results far outpaced my expectations. To see Joshua raise his arm straight up without having to go through a lot of physical gyrations was surprising. I'm beginning to think it may be possible to eliminate the uncontrolled reflexes entirely. The physical responses have been unexpected and exciting, but even more important to me is Joshua's reaction to the treatment. He is excited about the work and his focus and determination has been remarkable. I can't leave the office without his next appointment in my hand. That kind of mental participation can't be given to him. It comes from within and for that alone, even without the physical benefits, I am grateful.

One advantage a person with cerebral palsy has is the condition is non-progressive - whatever damage has been done will not get worse. As a parent, this is a hopeful thought. I know what my son has, he will keep. We have a starting point, and from there it can only get better. I asked Velos if chiropractic therapy would work with all disabilities and she said everyone is different. If there are added problems, such as fused vertebrae or instability of the spine, then you would obviously have to adapt or alter how you make the adjustments. Each patient is treated on an individual basis.

One of the biggest problems with the chiropractic treatment is how to document the progress. We know Joshua is measurably taller. Watching his progress is almost like watching the brain return to infancy to relearn. We're seeing the brain beginning to communicate with his body in new ways.

Velos' advice to patients, parents and practitioners is, don't be afraid to try. You must allow for the extra time it takes during the sessions for positioning. She believes the younger you can work with a child, the better.

Where the chiropractic leaves off, massage therapy takes over by working with the body's soft tissue. Massage helps to normalize muscle tone and stimulate the lymphatic system to eliminate toxins. This helps the body to fight infections and strengthen the immune system. Reiki works on the energy in and around the body. It heals on a cellular level.

Any massage will work well with chiropractic care. When you make physical changes to the body by making adjustments to the spine, it automatically affects the muscles around whatever bone or vertebrae has been moved. Massaging those muscles will actually help the adjustment hold better. When you add reiki to the massage, you have a tool that helps the therapist discover the location of the problem areas. When muscles are tight and tendons are shortened, such as you find in cerebral palsy patients, reiki will help the therapist know how deep she can go into the tissue so as not to cause damage.

I learned it is also important to support the patient properly. In the beginning, when my son couldn't bring his hips down to the table, the therapist made sure he was supported with pillows and cushions. This increased Joshua's ability to relax and get the full benefit of the massage.

Over the last 22 years, my son has had a lot of therapy, but I haven't seen anything bring results as quickly as the combination of chiropractic and reiki-ssage. It's accomplished everything I had hoped for and more. In a way, the chiropractor, the massage therapist, Joshua and myself have formed a team. We work together efficiently. Ultimately, however, it will be Joshua himself who determines the end result, and judging by his participation and determination, it will be an interesting trip.

Carol Englehaupt is a freelance writer. She is married and a full-time caregiver for her son, Joshua.

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