increase
blood flow to the feet -
YES !
RELAXATION
TRAINING AND ITS ROLE IN DIABETES AND HEALTH
Birgitta
I. Rice, M.S., R.Ph., CHES
Introduction
This
series of articles provides information on the benefits of
relaxation on health and wellness, with a focus on peripheral
circulation problems in patients with diabetes.
As we have seen, the
power of relaxation therapy has many benefits. Some of these include:
It
puts the patient in charge of his/her well-being
It
increases blood flow to the periphery of the body
It
increases healing
It
reduces pain
It
increases sensory function over time
It
may lower blood pressure
It
is non-invasive
It
is non-pharmaceutical – it does not interfere with prescribed
medications
It
makes you feel so good
Over the past 10
years I have developed a technique for relaxation training and tested it
in clinical research studies at the University of Wisconsin as well as
with patients at clinics in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We have used this
program with patients who have limited blood circulation to their feet,
such as peripheral arterial disease (PAD), claudication, diabetes and
neuropathy.
The program, WarmFeet®,
is a relaxation therapy, which can be taught, in a single session to
patients suffering from various foot complications. Patients learn to
relax and warm their feet assisted with thermal biofeedback. It is
important that the patient wants to, and is open to this kind of
therapy; the resulting increased blood flow provides improved healing,
pain relief and with time an increased sensory function.
We feel that the
training of allied/medical health professionals is important so that
they can include WarmFeet® as an adjunct treatment for their diabetes
and PAD populations. We want to work with supportive health professionals, to
teach and encourage patients, as this is instrumental for obtaining the
best results.
We are currently in
the final phase of developing the professional training materials and
want your input. DIABETES IN CONTROL would be happy to receive your feedback.
As a participant you can obtain the WarmFeet® Relaxation Therapy Kits
at no charge to use with yourself and your patients.
The WarmFeet® Kit
includes, (1) an audiotape with instructions on how to relax, (2) the
actual relaxation technique on the 2nd side, (3) a hard copy
of the instructions and (4) a personal skin thermometer for assisted
temperature biofeedback.
The information and
protocols will be available in next weeks Diabetes In Control
Newsletter, for your review.
Watch for:
Study
#15 “The Rexlaxation
Study”
Birgitta
I. Rice, MS, RPh, CHES received her education and pharmacy license in
her native Sweden. She is
a researcher, clinician and certified health education specialist at the
University of Minnesota, Division of Epidemiology Clinical Research
Center, Minneapolis, MN
- Printed
from Diabetes In Control.com
- http://www.diabetesincontrol.com
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