There’s hope afoot

Elma Bordwell has fingers as strong as redwoods.

She’s cultivated them for the past 46 years as a reflexologist, kneading her steel-like thumbs into thousands of peoples’ feet to ease a variety of ailments

Bordwell is 91 now. She recently had cancer surgery. But she continues to give as many as 10 reflexology treatments a day in her Spokane home to customers so loyal they’ve told her she can never quit.

“Usually, it does help everybody,” Bordwell says in a lilting northern Minnesota accent. “It really is rewarding.”

Reflexologists apply pressure to specific areas of the feet (and sometimes the hands and ears, too) under the theory that points on the feet correspond to different parts of the body. The tip of the big toe, for example, correlates with the top of the head.

A tender spot on the foot often forecasts a problem in the corresponding body part, reflexologists say. And by kneading that point, reflexologists say they can release blockages, improve circulation and ease chronic pain and other ailments.

Pardner Wynn, a high-tech executive in Spokane, is a believer — but he was skeptical at first.

“I just thought it was the biggest crock,” Wynn says, wincing a bit in a reclining chair as Bordwell digs her fingers into his foot.

Wynn’s wife persuaded him to give reflexology a try, though, about a year ago.

He had a kink in his lower back, and when Bordwell hit the corresponding part on his foot, “I about flipped out,” Wynn recalls.

Bordwell asked, “How’s your lower back?”

“I chose not to chalk that up to coincidence,” he says.

Since then, Wynn’s been coming in for “tune-ups” about once a week.

As with many nontraditional medical treatments, reflexology’s effectiveness hasn’t been widely studied. One recent small study found that reflexology improved some symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Another found that reflexology improved the quality of life for patients with end-stage cancer.

Dr. Bob Lutz, a Spokane urgent-care doctor who completed a two-year fellowship in integrative medicine, says it makes sense that many people find reflexology effective.

“There’s lots of anecdotal evidence that suggest reflexology really works for people,” Lutz says. “(Reflexologists) spend a lot of time with people. There’s a lot to be said for that and there’s a lot to be said for touch. … There’s a level of intimacy if you feel comfortable with someone working on your feet. That goes a long way.”

Reflexology isn’t a new technique. It’s been practiced for thousands of years, with early evidence of its use in ancient Egypt. But it’s gaining renewed interest as more and more people turn to complementary therapies.

In fact, Washington Gov. Gary Locke declared last week Reflexology Awareness Week.

Barbara Lee of Post Falls has been practicing reflexology since 1993. She has worked on car accident victims with whiplash, on people with back spasms and on many others.

“When the body’s relaxed, it can heal itself,” Lee says. “I swear by it.”

Suzanne Swanson wasn’t sure about reflexology at first but now calls herself a “true believer.”

Swanson, who lives in Thousand Oaks, Calif., discovered Spokane reflexologist Laura Lee Mistycah over the Internet. During a recent trip to Eastern Washington to visit relatives, Swanson received four reflexology treatments from her.

Swanson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999, and it has since spread to her bones. She is undergoing chemotherapy, but side effects from the drugs have caused her hip bones to disintegrate, she says.

After a hip-replacement operation 2 1/2 months ago, Swanson developed a golf ball-sized lump over her incision.

Doctors examined it but couldn’t figure out what to do to make it go away, she says.

During her first session with Lee, Swanson says she felt the lump get hot. After four sessions, it disappeared, she says.

“It went lower and lower until day five, it was gone. Completely gone,” she says. “I’d had it for two months. … It’s still gone. I’m just like, ‘Wow.’”

There are several different organizations that train and certify reflexologists. Those who practice the technique say it’s important to find someone who has been properly trained.

Prices per session vary, and most reflexologists do not accept insurance. Bordwell charges $15 per 30-minute session. Others in the area charge up to $50.

Many reflexologists claim to not only be able to treat ailments but to diagnose them as well.

“Reflexology, by its very nature, is diagnostic,” says Spokane reflexologist Steve Kynaston. “I can tell by how tender it is on the foot which areas are having problems.”

Bordwell received her reflexology training from Eunice Ingham, widely considered the founding mother of modern reflexology.

Bordwell says she had bursitis and couldn’t lift her right arm when she had her first reflexology session in 1958. Reflexology cleared up her bursitis, along with her persistent headaches and nosebleeds.

“I’ve been in the best of health ever since,” she says with a smile.

Ingham told her students that if they did good work, they’d never have to advertise.

And Bordwell proved her right. Her appointment book is jammed, thanks to word of mouth. She treats lawyers, investors, old people, young people and everyone in between in the small front room of her home near Spokane Community College.

She says her reflexology treatments have helped people with strokes, cleared up open sores, cured bedwetters and eased hemorrhoids, among other things.

“I’m just so amazed sometimes myself,” she says.

Faithful clients bring her goodies from their gardens, give her generous tips, even restock the towels she uses during each session.

“People don’t want me to quit,” she says.