When it comes to improving and maintaining health, there are numerous paths one can follow. Over the years, complementary medicine has started to take its rightful place alongside other forms of medicine as people seek alternate forms of treatment.
Among the complementary forms, reflexology is a well known and popular treatment, but there is a definite difference between a relaxing foot massage and a reflexology treatment administered by a trained holistic reflexologist.
Beverly Edgington of the Da Vinci Centre is a holistic practitioner and reflexologist with a degree in complementary medicine, and is quick to point out that even a relaxing foot massage can be very beneficial, but that holistic reflexology allows her to focus on specific elements of the client’s health that may need attention.
Beverly’s initial session with a client involves an hour and a half initial consultation in which she looking at diet, health, and stress, of which around 30 minutes is reflexology, which is used to back up what she has been discussing with the client. Building a relationship with the client and getting to understand their problems is one of the things that differentiate Beverly’s treatments from other reflexology.
A specialist area for Beverly is babies and fertility.
“I seem to be having a bit of a knack when it comes to babies. I like to say that it is from conception to cradle – that is the area that we work on,” she says.
“When people come to me with unexplained infertility, we really hone in on their lifestyle and there are very important dietary changes I ask people to make and there are stress management techniques that I get them to use, and then we back that up with the reflexology, so that’s why I’m a holistic practitioner – it’s the whole body.”
Beverly has had numerous successes with clients on Island, but says that referrals have been primarily word of mouth, as infertility is not something people like to talk about openly. She also teaches baby massage, which can be very helpful to babies and parents alike.
“Once a baby reaches six weeks and has had its first round of inoculations we can start to teach baby massage. This is where I teach the mother or the father or both how to massage their babies. Touch is really important. It reinforces the bond. If the baby is premature, caesarean or if the mother has antenatal depression there are phenomenal results as a result of teaching this bond,” she says.
The advantages can be great and also immediately apparent.
“Babies sleep through the night much quicker. Because I’m a holistic reflexologist I teach them the sinus points, the drainage points, the deep digestive points, because babies have all these problems. However, at no point would I say don’t go and see a doctor – it is complementary, it sits alongside allopathic medicine.”
However, the Da Vinci Centre offers much more than just reflexology. In fact, it can cover everything, from feet to face.
When it comes to the face, Lindsay Fink uses a lot more modern technology than her colleague Beverly, with a selection of laser and machines that could make the Starship Enterprise feel rather inadequate.
The technology can be used for everything from hair removal, spot pigmentation to skin tightening and vein removal.
“The skin tightening works really well, it is a collagen booster. It works very well if you get it at a younger age. If you start getting it in your later 30s or 40s you will see improvement that night. As you get a little bit older it might take a couple more treatments but it works really well,” says Lindsay.
With hair removal, Lindsay says that five treatments is the average number required, but due to variations some people only need three, while others may need up to 10 treatments.
Vein removal is also a quick process, with most patients requiring between one and three treatments. However, due to recovery time the treatments are spaced six to eight weeks apart.
The Da Vinci Centre also uses Dr. Cona’s own line of skincare products for facials. It is a cosmeceutical line, which means it has more powerful ingredients than products that can be purchased in a regular store.
“I have been so impressed with it – you can do any skin type with it,” says Lindsay.
For more information on the Da Vinci Centre, call 943-2002 or visit davinciwellnesscentre.com