Shiatsu enters the path of care. Not only as a treatment to be used to remedy back pain or other ailments, but as a support that can help keep you healthy or deal with challenging events such as childbirth, but also the consequences of serious illnesses.
And this year the Shiatsu week organized by FISieo (Italian Federation of Shiatsu Teachers and Operators) from 18 to 25 September, is dedicated to “Shiatsu in the treatment paths”. This will be the theme of the meetings, supported as every year by the Open Studies program which allows you to request free treatment in complete safety (the list of operators can be found on the website www.fisieo.it). An opportunity to experience the benefits of this treatment of Japanese origin that offers well-being and strengthens the body’s defenses, as confirmed by a growing number of studies and the experience of operators.
“It often happens that someone starts shiatsu treatment to solve a specific problem – such as back pain – and then continues because they realize the overall benefits”, explains the president of FISieo. Andrea Mascaro. “A result obtained thanks to the rebalancing work possible through Shiatsu, based on a personalized technique that takes into account the existential path of each person”.
Also important after having Covid
Among the interventions that have proved effective are those to reduce the problems related to the after-effects of Covid: “It takes time, but we have seen excellent results”, assures Mascaro. “Even if today we aim to promote shiatsu not as a targeted intervention on specific ailments, but for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and as a support in case of pathologies”. For this reason, experts explain, it would be important to resort to treatments to promote health, without waiting to get sick. And starting as early as possible: “Shiatsu is very effective with children: a different approach is used than that for adults, with excellent results”, recalls Mascaro.
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Used in pre-birth courses
But the possibilities are many, as evidenced by an important experience developed over a decade in Emilia Romagna, where the use of shiatsu by midwives has been promoted, both in pre-birth courses and in the early stages of labor: “I am training courses on some shiatsu maneuvers were organized for all midwives in Emilia Romagna “, she explains Marilena Mazzolani, for years in charge of the midwives at Sant’Orsola in Bologna. “In the early stages of labor, before epidural analgesia, shiatsu helps to control pain, and can be used to promote placental abruption when there is a delay.”
In addition to being used in preparation courses, to familiarize women with this technique, “and above all to teach the future mother and partner simple maneuvers to use to control pain”, explains Mazzolani. A practice that is extending to other departments in Emilia Romagna, but also in Turin and other cities – “We have had excellent results”, Mazzolani observes, “and I am convinced that this technique could be a valuable tool for all midwives”.
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Help for cancer patients
Instead, an interesting experience comes from Genoa that shows how shiatsu, together with other integrated medicine techniques, can help cancer patients to bear the adverse effects of the disease and therapies: it is a project born in 2013 of which we have recently evaluated the efficacy on 280 patients, with good results on well-being and quality of life “, explains the hematologist Edoardo Rossiat the time in charge of the Hematology clinic of the Gallino Hospital in Genoa.
“We have seen in particular that shiatsu is particularly useful because it balances the energies compromised by the disease, with important effects especially in terms of recovery of autonomy, without forgetting the benefits deriving from the relationship with the operators”.