Arthur John Rosen • Therapeutic Reflexologist & Craniosacral Therapist – I’m not a medical doctor — please read my full disclosure before acting on anything here.
I provide natural therapies that support the body’s natural healing abilities, and share what I’ve experienced and witnessed along the way.
A while back, our Yorkshire Terrier, Bella – I call her Bella Bella Bella, started limping on her left back leg. It was subtle at first — a slight favouring, easy to explain away. It didn’t stay subtle for long.
We took her to the vet. He examined the leg, felt around the joint, and told us what he thought was going on: a damaged ligament, and the fix was surgery. Not a small procedure either — costly, invasive, and with a recovery period that would ask a lot of a small dog.
A Second Opinion, and a Gentler Question
Something about it didn’t sit right with me. Not because I doubted the vet’s diagnosis — I have no reason to. But because I have spent a long time learning that the most aggressive option offered is not always the only option, and it is rarely the first one worth trying.
So we asked around and found another vet. He examined Bella too, and instead of reaching straight for surgery, he recommended a powder to be added to her food, daily, and Craniosacral therapy – to support the ligament and so that it healed itself. (I had told him that I was a Craniosacral therapist an Therapeutic reflexologist).
We chose that route. Some people scoffed, gently or otherwise. A torn ligament, surely, needs to be fixed by a surgeon’s hands, not a spoonful of powder in a food bowl. I understood the scepticism. It is, after all, what most of us have been conditioned to believe — that the bigger intervention is the more serious one, and the more serious one is the right one.
What We Actually Did
We gave Bella the supplement every day, without fail, for a few months. Just a spoonful of the powder sprinkled over her evening meal. And every evening, when she settled onto the couch beside me, I gave her Craniosacral Therapy — the same gentle, hands-on work I offer my clients, just applied to a much smaller patient. (If you’re not familiar with Craniosacral therapy, it is a gentle, hands-on approach that supports the body’s natural ability to heal and restore physical and emotional balance and is very beneficial for a wide variety of conditions.)
There was no drama to any of it. No dramatic turning point I can point to and say, that was the moment. Just a daily rhythm of small, unremarkable things, repeated with patience. During that time, when Bella wanted to get up onto our couch, she would come and stand next to me, facing away and waited patiently to be lifted onto the couch Bella has fully recovered. She runs, she jumps onto the couch without hesitation, and there is no trace left of the limp that had us so worried.
The Valuable Lesson I Keep Bearing in Mind.
I have lived this lesson before, in my own body — a diagnosis, a verdict, and a decision to look for a gentler road before accepting the most invasive one on offer. Watching it play out again in Bella, on a much smaller scale, was a quiet reminder of something I try never to forget:
Always try the least invasive treatment first.
That doesn’t mean that surgery is never necessary — sometimes it truly is, and I would never suggest otherwise. What it simply means is that the biggest hammer shouldn’t automatically be the first one reached for. The body — a dog’s, or a person’s — is often more capable of healing than we give it credit for, if it’s given the support and the time to do so.
Bella didn’t know any of this, of course. She just knew that every evening, she got to lie on the couch while someone she trusted treated her injured leg. Perhaps that’s not so different from what any of us need when something in the body isn’t working the way it should — a properly-trained therapist capable of treating it safely and non-invasively, before reaching for the most drastic answer.
A Small Question to Sit With
The next time you or someone you love is offered a big, invasive answer to a health problem, it may be worth pausing to ask: is there a gentler road worth trying first? Sometimes the answer will still be surgery. But it’s worth asking the question before assuming the biggest intervention is the only one available.
If you’re facing a decision like this yourself, and would welcome a conversation about the less invasive options that might exist, I’m always happy to talk it through. I answer my own phone. You will not reach a voicemail.
And if it’s Craniosacral Therapy or Therapeutic Reflexology you’re curious about — the same gentle, hands-on work Bella had every evening on the couch — I offer both to people too. You’re welcome to reach out and ask what that might look like for you. Wherever you are in your journey toward healing, you don’t have to do this alone. If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure what your next step should be, that’s exactly why I’m here. Reach out by phone or through my email address today, and let’s figure out the best path forward for your health.
Arthur John Rosen
Be flexible like a reed, not rigid like a cedar.
Lifetime Health, Bedford Park, Johannesburg
📞 082 456 0155
✉️ arthur@lifetimehealth.co.za
🌐 www.lifetimehealth.co.za
Author, How to Be Free of IBD — amazon.com/dp/B0G7FNXRWZ. Amazon
I’m honoured that you read this. Whatever you’re working towards, I’m rooting for you, but more importantly, make sure you’re rooting for yourself!
📩 For more on natural approaches to lasting health, subscribe to my free newsletter: https://arthur-john-rosen-health-letter.subscribepage.io
I share my journey and what I have watched become possible. I am not a medical doctor and nothing I write or say is medical advice.
The experiences shared here are offered to illustrate what is possible — not as a guaranteed blueprint or medical prescription for your specific condition. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please consult your healthcare team before making any major changes to your treatment.