SUPPORTING YOUR HEALING SINCE 1994
Fibromyalgia: a Case Study
By Philip M. P. Buttenfield, LCSW, J.D.
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Winter, 2006, Volume 3,Number 1
"Mary" is a vivacious 33 year old single woman who has an infectious laugh. She loves to play pool, and has a very active social life. She also has fibromyalgia. This condition is chiefly characterized by long-standing, widespread pain in joints, muscles and tendons, with tender points in the soft tissues. Some other problems commonly linked with fibromyalgia include fatigue, morning stiffness, sleep problems, headaches, numbness in hands and feet, depression, and anxiety. Fibromyalgia can develop on its own, or secondary to other musculoskeletal conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, or systemic lupus. Fibromyalgia pain can mimic the pain experienced by people with various types of arthritis, but without the significant joint swelling, destruction, and deformity seen in patients with those disorders.
In common with many other fibromyalgia sufferers, Mary described her soft-tissue pain as deep-aching, radiating and burning, and ranging in intensity from mild to severe. During flare-ups of the condition, which occurred about twice a month and lasted for several days, sometimes a week, she was often unable to touch her own thighs because of the pain this simple, casual contact would cause. She suffered particularly from pain in her feet, hips and ribs. She rated her pain at a level of 7 on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most severe. Because of the pain, her sleep was disrupted, and she was consequently tired much of the time. The flare-ups also exacerbated an otherwise well-controlled depressive condition. At the time she first sought Reiki treatment, she had been treated for two years with Neurontin and coral calcium, a preparation that has been found to be effective in relieving fibromyalgic pain. She said these substances were largely ineffective against her pain during the periods of exacerbation. Having suffered through several years of pain, Mary was somewhat stoic about the condition, and did not hold out much hope for improvement.
She was treated weekly over a period of four months, using the traditional positions brought to America by Hawayo Takata, with the addition of a position at mid thigh, and one over the tops of her feet. By the seventh week of treatment, she reported that she was able to push on her thighs without causing pain. She also said she was finally able to walk distances without foot pain. Her overall pain level decreased to 0 to 1, and did not increase during the remainder of the course of Reiki treatment. It must be pointed out here that at about the time her pain began to decrease, Mary also began taking doubled doses of coral calcium. She ascribed the decrease in pain to the medication, and decided to rely entirely on the coral calcium for relief, and discontinued her Reiki treatments. However, some months after this, she revealed in a telephone call that since leaving treatment her pain had returned, albeit at a lower level than she had originally suffered, although she still took her coral calcium.
Although Mary's concomitant use of coral calcium during the course of Reiki treatments raised the question of how much, if any, of her relief was due to the effects of Reiki, the reappearance of symptoms following discontinuation of Reiki treatments despite continuing pharmacotherapy strongly suggests that this modality did, in fact, have a positive effect on her symptoms. Certainly, this experience supports further use of Reiki as a treatment form for fibromyalgia.
