Demand for alternative treatment on the rise

Theresa Mukamuvara 58, a resident of Nyamirambo, had muscle and joint complications that got her confined to her bed since 2004.Her legs and hands were swollen while she also had a terrible backache for all those years.Despite medication, her ailments didn’t heal.She couldn’t move by herself as they used to just lift her even out of bed. It’s now slightly over a month since she started getting reflexology treatment but there’s been a tremendous change.“This treatment is natural and very effective. Before I couldn’t walk but I can now move. I feel like I am on my way to completely heal. If I had known about this kind of treatment years ago, I would be in perfect health today but now my ailments have gotten old along with me,” she said.Mukamuvara said that when she went to Healing Wonders Reflexology Clinic in Kicukiro, the Reflexologist checked under the feet and told her what she was suffering from, then started treating her.During The New Times’ visit to the clinic, traffic was heavy, as many cars entered and exited carrying patients. Lately so many people in Rwanda are opting for reflexology treatment as opposed to other kinds of treatment.Reflexology is an alternative curative treatment based on the idea that the body has an inner network of reflex points that connect to other organs. It can also be defined as a spa treatment where a therapist works on reflex points on one’s feet, hands and head.The reflex points that are targeted are mostly in the hands and feet but are connected to body systems and internal organs, from the lymphatic system to the bladder.In a reflexology treatment session, pressure is applied to certain sections of feet or hands and when the patient feels pain at a certain point, then the reflexologist is able to make the diagnosis.Urbain Ndatimana, the representative of reflexologists in Rwanda noted that people have now learnt through experience that this kind of treatment is very effective.He noted that 78 percent of the diseases without a remedy in modern medicine can be treated through reflexology.“In fact, most of our patients come to us after they’ve failed to recover through the treatment they receive from other hospitals. Reflexology is a natural therapy that helps impact the body in many different ways,” In a visit to different reflexology clinics/centres, some believe in diagnosis only through using the hands and massaging the feet or palms to find the ailment while others use some machines which they claim, give better results.Jean Die Dieu Ngirabega, the Director of Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health said that the ministry has plans of holding a workshop soon to get clear explanation of complementary medication and how it works.Dennis Victor Nkundineza, the head of the traditional and complementary medicine department in the Ministry of Health, said that traditional medicine, coupled with exercises, is effective. More Rwandans are now seeking reflexology and other kinds of treatment as an alternative to conventional medicine.Gerald Ruzindana, a reflexologist with Health Inspirations, Remera emphasized that reflexology or natural treatment only supplements modern medication but doesn’t contradict it.

National

Demand for alternative treatment on the rise