Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Answering the Call - May 2020 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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Sometimes, their body is out of bal- ance, and restoring that balance can assist with the heal- ing process. Reiki, a Japanese technique that involves massage- like touch therapy, not only reduces stress and induces relaxation, it also can promote healing. "Rei" means "universal" and "Ki" refers to a vital life-force energy. Reiki isn't hypnosis — the patient isn't relinquishing control to the practitioner. It's not the off- spring of a religion; it's not dogmatic; it's not about mind control; and it's not placebo. If the patient is open to it, they're in control. It's a self-regulating, very democratic form of healing. You don't have to explain all the details to a patient who's still a lit- tle groggy in PACU. I simply say, "If you're interested, there's a tech- nique called Reiki that can help alleviate your symptoms. I'm going to try to alleviate your pain, and I'm going to try to help with your nau- sea." Of course, Reiki, pre-op meditation and all alternative non-pharma- ceutical therapies don't have to be used instead of narcotics for pain control and traditional antiemetic medications for PONV. They can be used in conjunction with them. In fact, it's generally not a good idea to use these methods as complete substitutes. While I certainly don't push pain-control medications on patients, I do inform those who are resistant to taking them that the medications will help manage their 7 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 2 0 • MIND OVER MATTER Reiki, meditation and mindfulness can be used as alternatives to standard antiemetic medications.

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