Jenny Stalone is a professional reflexologist, a profession that primarily focuses on foot massage and the application of pressure” to the hands, feet, and ears. Reflexology is based on the theory that your extremities are connected to certain organs and body systems.
“I opened my massage clinic in 2005 after earning a degree in kinesiology at the University of Michigan and working with some of the area’s most well- respected physical therapists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists,” Jenny explained.
“I always knew that I wanted to work in the wellness field, which is why I studied kinesiology in school, which is the science that studies the way physical activity affects the body and overall health. Helping people to feel and perform their best is basically who I am.
But when her own body started to turn on her, her own life began to spiral and soon became unmanageable.
“About 3 years ago, I had back surgery to deal with a herniated disc in my lumbar spine. One of the extremely rare risks of this surgery is that some patients can develop neuropathy, pain resulting from nerve damage.”
Unfortunately, Jenny was one of the unlucky ones and she developed a bad case of neuropathic pain in her left foot that gradually became worse over time.
“As a professional, I know that neuropathic pain can be mild or severe, can come and go, or linger. Diseases like diabetes, shingles can cause it, as can damage to a nerve, which was what happened in my case.”
The tingling, burning pain started in her toes, but began to extend to her ankle and got increasingly worse over time.
“The pain in my feet would start as soon as I got out of bed and would gradually get worse throughout the day. It felt like I had an ace bandage wrapped around my foot that was on too tight, but it was just the nerve pain and nothing would relieve it.”
When it got really bad about 3 months ago, she found herself asking her staff to treat her patients while she spent most of her time at work doing busy work in the back office, not at all the way she wanted to spend her life.
“By the time I got home, I had to take pain medicine just to walk my dog,” Jenny recalled.