Therapeutic Touch and the Pain that is Shingles

Last Tuesday when my sister arrived for a 6-week visit from her home in Geneva, she complained about insect bites, perhaps a spider she thought as she pulled up her shirt to show me a red and inflamed looking rash of blisters that ran from her spine to under her right breast. Ouch! The pain was both deep and surface.

Wednesday morning, the pain still strong, we went to a local walk-in clinic for a diagnosis. Shingles – a condition diagnosed in 50% of the population over 50 years of age, was the doctor’s diagnosis.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH) website defines Shingles as “…the reactivation of a viral infection in the nerves to the skin that causes pain, burning, or a tingling sensation, along with an itch and blisters in the skin supplied by the affected nerve.  It is caused by the varicella zoster virus, or VZV—the same virus that causes chickenpox.  When the itchy red spots of childhood chicken pox disappear, the virus remains in a dormant state in our nerve cells, ready to strike again in later life.  This second eruption of the chickenpox virus is called shingles or herpes-zoster.

You cannot develop shingles unless you have had an earlier exposure to chickenpox.  Shingles occur when an unknown trigger causes the virus to become activated.  Most adults who have the dormant virus in their body never get shingles.”

Dr. Khan prescribed Teva-Valacyclovir HCL, an antiviral medication which she said, if initiated within 72 hours of an outbreak can allay the threat of postherpetic neuralgia associated with Shingles which can persist long after the rash has healed – sometimes lasting three or more months. Shingles pain, the NIH reports can “lead to insomnia, weight loss, depression, and disability. There may be other sensations, such as tingling, coldness, or loss of feeling.” Terrifying!

That same afternoon, I invited my pain-suffering sister to receive her first-ever Therapeutic Touch session, offered by two Therapeutic Touch practitioners who are members of the Kaizen Healers’ Circle,  a practitioner training and development program.

Here’s a photo of her rash on day 7 and my sister smiling again.

Later the same week, returning home from a family visit, I offered my sister, still suffering from waves of Shingles pain, despite pain killers and the anti-viral, another Therapeutic Touch session and recognizing some progress with pain abatement and the withdrawal of the painful blisters, I gave three more healing sessions the next day before she heads off to Vancouver, for the second leg of her journey.

She writes, “Thank you for all. I am very grateful for your Therapeutic Touch sessions and think they helped significantly in reducing the pain. Being a “doubting Thomas” usually (as you know) I am glad I listened to you and accepted your Therapeutic Touch treatment.

It’s very relaxing, it feels great, it takes your mind off your immediate pain, plus there is this wonderful feeling of somebody wanting to do you good. I can understand that helps healing. I am getting better but the pain continues. The rash is almost gone and I felt super well taken care of. Thank you my dear sister.

What a relief, and what a gift it is to know Therapeutic Touch. I am forever grateful to have this healing knowledge and practice in my life skills toolbox and feel very privileged to be able to share it as a Therapeutic Touch Recognized Teacher and Practitioner.  Learn more about Therapeutic Touch.

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About Julia von Flotow

Julia von Flotow is an executive coach, Therapeutic Touch Teacher and Practitioner, mindfulness instructor, and founder of the Kaizen Leadership Institute and Therapeutic Touch Institute, Toronto, Canada. Her 12 step program to becoming an authentic and mindful leader kaizenleadershipinstitute.com/12steps/ has helped hundreds of independent professionals and business owners live happier lives and build more sustainable businesses. www.kaizenleadershipinstitute.com.

Enquire about the Integrative Self Health Coach certified training program and her 8 week online Mindfulness Practice Development Program. Connect with her on Linked In at https://ca.linkedin.com/in/juliavonflotow or email her at julia@kaizenleadershipinstitute.com.