Q. Dear Donna: I have a client who has excruciating pain in her ankles and heels. As a reflexologist, I would assess this as a form of sciatica, although she has yet to feel pain in her hips or lower back. I have held acupressure points on her, and have gently pulled and stretched the skin over the painful areas, which has brought her some relief, but I want to know what else I can do to help her.
A. My own experience suggests that if there is no pain in the hip, back, or leg, it is probably not sciatica. To help with her ankle pain, I would work with the bladder, kidney, or spleen meridians, depending on where the pain is sharpest, because these are the meridians that run along the ankle. Energy testing will help you to zero in on the specific meridian that is involved, although there may actually be more than one to treat. If you feel uncertain about your testing results, you could also sedate all three (using the acupuncture points shown on pp. 134 – 137 of Energy Medicine), noting which one helped to ease her pain the most. Then, follow this by strengthening the spleen meridian, also using the acupuncture points. You can also determine which meridians need attention by the location of the pain and the break and comparing these to the meridian flow diagrams in Chapter 4 of Energy Medicine.
You could also tape the north side of a magnet to her heel to reduce the pain (read and experiment with the pain techniques in Chapter 10 of Energy Medicine and the use of magnets in Chapter 11 of Energy Medicine). Painful heels also often indicate a problem with a person’s spleen and pancreas energy, indicating the possibility of blood sugar issues.