GUNNEL BERRY
Alternative Adapted Reflex Therapy Specialist
PHILOSOPHY
Musculo-Skeletal pain is one of the most prevalent symptoms in the wider population and the mainstay of physiotherapy practice.
Millions of pain sufferers do not achieve pain relief. Acute pain often graduates to chronic pain.
Gunnel has worked for the NHS and in private practice in the United Kingdom and further afield treating patients with musculo-skeletal pain for more than 40years.
A hypothesis and philosophy of pain and how to approach it have emerged through clinical observations and trials. She is keen to expand on this hypothesis of ‘neural adaptations’ and ‘counter-irritability’ after trauma which forms the basis of the philosophy and development of ‘Adapted Reflextherapy’.
Principles of AdRx Philosophy
Philosophy 1
Injury and trauma is an experience of both mind and body.
The brain receives incoming signals (action potentials) from injured nociceptive nerve endings producing a painful scenario in mind and body. The brain registers and stores every injury experience at subconscious level, a memory of pain, which can be recalled at other times. This memory may be a positive or negative reminder of a previous painful episode.
Philosophy 2
According to the theory of reflexology (also named reflextherapy in professional circles) the upper and lower extremities have an organised representation on the periphery on hands and feet representing anatomical areas. By touching these representational areas, signals are conveyed to these areas via the spinal cord and higher centres. In terms of injury, there is a raised sensitivity on touch in the relevant injured areas. By touch, it appears that one can raise, even regulate, the top-down mechanism of efferent, descending, action potentials and thereby alter pain awareness.
The therapeutic intervention, AdRx, or reflexology per se, acts to initiate a counter-irritability mechanism to the whole spinal network and neural plasticity.
For more information please contact Gunnel Berry: