Melissa is a 3rd year student at the British School of Shiatsu-Do in London and is now what's called a practitioner under restriction. To complete her 3rd year and graduate in full she has to write a thesis, and would very much like to do it on Shiatsu and Fibromyalgia. She currently has one client with fibromyalgia and needs several more if she is to write her thesis on this subject.

Melissa lives in South London in the West Dulwich/Tulse Hill area. She would like to offer six-eight free Shiatsu treatments to four other people with fibromyalgia. These people would need to be able to travel to her house and be willing to give a full case history. You will need to be able to walk up a small set of stairs to enter the treatment area. Melissa needs to complete all treatments by the end of August. If you live in her area and would be interested in taking part please contact her

Here at Melissa explains what shiatsu is and what to expect during a consultation.

What is Shiatsu?
Shiatsu is a therapeutic practice that can support individuals in moving towards greater health and well-being. The word ‘Shiatsu' is Japanese meaning "finger pressure" and the technique uses hand pressure on the same points and meridian lines employed by acupuncturists. In addition, it uses manipulative techniques like holding or cranial work through to more physical techniques such as trigger point therapy to adjust the body's physical structure and its natural inner energies. Shiatsu is deeply relaxing yet energising and is often used to help ward off illness and maintain good health.

What to expect?
A consultation tends to last one hour. The first appointment will consist of 20 to 30 minutes of in-depth questions to establish your case history and to form a diagnosis based on traditional Chinese medicine. Unlike western medicine we look to treat the cause and not the presenting symptoms, therefore a client needs to be prepared to talk openly about their physical and emotional histories as this information is vital to the treatment. Further diagnosis is made via gentle palpation.

The Shiatsu treatment is then applied with the client lying fully clothed on a futon or various cushions (a loose track suit is best). The body will then be pressed, moved and held using various techniques. The aim of Shiatsu is to not only help alleviate the symptoms, but to work on the deep underlying cause and help contribute to future well being. For the person with fibromyalgia this would be pain relief and long term pain reduction.

Mobility wise the client will need to be willing to be moved and the physical level of treatment will depend on how strong the individual symptoms are. Although Shiatsu is deeply relaxing and generally gentle, at times body areas being worked on may feel a little tender during the treatment.

Melissa is associated with the Shiatsu Society and their website offers more information on both the society and the technique. There are also links to research on how complimentary therapies can help various medical conditions. Presently there is no mention of fibromyalgia but Melissa hopes to change this in the future. Visit website: http://www.shiatsusociety.org/

There is also an article on immunesupport.com that talks about the use of shiatsu in treating fibromyalgia. Check out the link: http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/5232/e/1/T/CFIDS_FM/