Whole Life Times: Uncommon Healer

About five years ago, I was diagnosed with Graves disease — a hyperthyroid disease, which has some potentially serious consequences. I was told the standard medical remedies, all of which seemed radical to me and had side effects. One was giving the thyroid a dose of radioactivity to decrease its function; another was to surgically remove part of the thyroid. Since none of these remedies was OK with me, I sought alternative methods. However, even many alternative practitioners had nothing else to recommend. I finally found a naturopath who had worked with others who had the same thyroid condition. She listened to me and made some lifestyle suggestions, including some high-dose vitamins. The main therapy, however, was an herbal tincture. I took this regularly for two years and my thyroid function gradually returned to normal. I have blood tests every year to check the thyroid and it is always normal. My suggestion to others who suffer from this condition is to continue to seek alternative remedies. It’s much less expensive for insurance companies (if they even cover it!) and creates less demand on the medical system, as well.

October 2004 | Whole Health: Practitioner Profile

Uncommon Healer

by Elizabeth Ralser

Who: In 1982, Bill Flocco founded the American Academy of Reflexology (AAR) in West Los Angeles, the only approved school in California dedicated to reflexology.

Quick Take: Reflexology uses unique nurturing touch techniques applied to feet, hands and outer ears, where there is an orderly arrangement of reflexes suggesting the shape of the human body. When worked on properly, this can lead to improved health throughout the entire body.

Old vs. New: Traditional reflexology involves the use of one of the three maps, usually foot reflexology. The Flocco Method of Hand, Foot and Ear Reflexology has emerged as a separate profession and is one of the fastest growing fields in the area of stress reduction.

Knowing the Difference: Working all three systems—feet, hands and ear—helps deliver the most effective results. People get better sooner, benefits last longer, and people report remarkably better results when all three maps are used during the same reflexology session.

Biggest Myth: Reflexology comes from ancient China or Egypt. It is, in fact, a new practice discovered in the 20th century by three medical doctors, two U.S. and one French. The “father of reflexology,” William Fitzgerald, M.D., first postulated the theory of 10 wide vertical zones running the length of the body in 1917.

Benefits: Known to decrease stress and induce profound relaxation for all parts of the body, reflexology can also be used to reduce or eliminate pain, improve circulation, detoxify and improve organ and gland function and normalize body functions. In a six-month study conducted at the American Academy of Reflexology, the Flocco Method was clinically proven to reduce a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms related to PMS (reported in Obstetrics & Gynecology, 12/93).

Personal File: Bill Flocco has over 20 years of experience as an instructor and practitioner of reflexology on four continents. He has two self-published books: Reflexology Research—Anatomy of a Reflexology Research Study and Reflexology Articles—Over A Decade of Reflexology Articles. When not teaching or lecturing, Flocco enjoys looking for presidential campaign buttons to add to his collection of over 300, and spending time with those near and dear.

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