Are Your Eyes Windows to Your Health?
Contributed by Elaine Hedden
William Shakespeare was quoted once as saying, “The eyes are the window to your soul.” He often found much inspiration in his writings from Scripture. In Matthew 6:22, Christ taught “Your eyes are windows into your body.” Is there some truth to these statements? Can we gain any health information from patterns and pigments in the eyes?
As a Physical Therapist, I have been taught to use critical thinking skills and the Socratic method of ascertainment when assessing a patient, a technique, or a healing modality. In the current scientific methodology, there is a term known as “evidence based practice.” This methodology is based upon clear, objective, measurable evidence for various healing modalities and techniques.
Doing a search on Google would lead one to conclude that Iridology, (the study of the iris) and Sclerology (the study of the whites of the eyes) are simply pseudoscience, and can be written off as ‘hogwash’. It is interesting to note that Google is highly invested in the Pharmaco-medical model, and anything that is outside of drugs or surgery is seen as questionable if not labeled as mis-information. (See Kate Raines’ article titled, Google Joins the Pharmaceutical Industry published on August 23, 2019 in The Vaccine Reaction). So based on all of my training and what “science says,” why in the world would I take a 20-week certification course to become an Iridologist?
About 15 years ago I had a patient who was a very sweet woman, but she was severely ill with multiple chronic conditions. She was taking, at that time, FIFTEEN prescription medications. I knew her health history and was very familiar with her orthopedic issues. I had heard about Iridology and knew that there was an Iridologist in the valley. I was intrigued, but naturally very skeptical. I mentioned this Iridologist to my patient, and she said she would be willing to go. I asked her if I could come along, and “just be a fly on the wall” to see what it was all about. She agreed and I went with her to her appointment, sat on the couch and just listened, observed and used my critical thinking skills. My patient had never met the Iridologist. The Iridologist proceeded to photograph both of her eyes. She projected her eye photos on a large screen TV and studied them for about five minutes.
What happened next blew me away. This Iridologist that had never met my patient asked her when she was first diagnosed with asthma. My patient told her that when she was four years oldshe started getting asthma-like symptoms and that’s when she was diagnosed. I wondered to myself how can she tell that my patient has asthma?!? I KNEW this was the first time my patient met the Iridologist and at the time they met, my patient was showing no signs of asthma, so it wasn’t as if she could hear her wheezing or pick up physiologic signs of asthma.
The next question stunned me away as well. The Iridologist asked my patient how long she had been having left hip arthritis. That was one of the orthopedic issues we were working on; trying to prevent left hip replacement surgery. I was very intrigued by this Iridologist, and that experience always left me wondering if there was something legitimate to this practice.
Last fall I had the opportunity to take a 20-week Iridology certification course with Judith Cobb. In our interview on my podcast, Thriving Within, Judith Cobb discussed the unfortunate myths about Iridology that are out there on the Internet and in some alternative health circles. She also discusses what evidence there is for Iridology, and what it is in the scope of a holistic health practice.
It’s important to know that Iridology is NOT diagnostic in nature —true Iridology does not predict disease and does not diagnose. What it does do is provide guidance, like a map, where a person’s constitution and condition is currently. It has been an effective assessment tool and complementary in my holistic Physical Therapy practice.
The assessment process is very gentle. It consists of taking multiple photos of each eye in low light conditions to fully see all of the iris, sclera, and into the pupil. The information I gain from a client’s eye is then added to the information that I get from my orthopedic Physical Therapy assessment of the client’s health issues. There’s a strong correlation between the client’s eyes and the health or orthopedic condition.
For example, a client may have a number of issues with the lymphatic system, and the lymphatic component of the eyes are also significant, observable and measurable. It is one more tool in the toolbox to look more deeply into my client’s health and wellness issues. After using my critical thinking skills and the Socratic method of asking questions from all perspectives, I can’t help but agree with not only Shakespeare but Jesus Christ as well. Our eyes tell a lot about our health.
If you are interested in learning more about iridology, scan the QR code below, which will take you to the interview with my Dynamic Iridology instructor, Judith Cobb.
If you are interested in setting up an Iridology consult, feel free to call me at 907-622-2327. I specialize in chronic pain, low back pain and chronic neck pain. I use various healing modalities that are natural and non-pharmacologic. Call me today to start your health and wellness journey.
