Through a roundabout series of events, I was introduced to Erdman Therapy, a treatment that was on the verge of dying out. Having its tiny heyday from the 1930s until nearly 1990, the people who mainly know and use this self-care treatment now are vigorous octogenarians. I'll admit, my initial reaction when Ukrainian researcher Dr. Roman Antyukhov asked me if I knew anyone practicing it was, “That's way too weird. I know about lots of unusual treatments, and I've never heard of it.”

 

Frederick Erdman's theory about circulatory differences in people offers a good explanation of why some people and conditions are so difficult to treat and understand or rehabilitate. Migraines, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, chronically cold hands and feet are just some. Thousands of patients with these conditions received help at the Erdman clinics in Philadelphia for nearly fifty years. Here is a treatment that is safe, costs almost nothing, can be self-administered without special equipment, has no serious side effects and a documented high rate of success, at least with migraine patients. It's based on simple laws of physics: heat causes expansion, cold causes contraction. If all parts of the body are adequately nourished via optimal circulation, health improves. This treatment has helped many people in the past, and you might be one of the people that it could help. Here's the story of one desperate woman who benefited.

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How the Erdman Therapy Improved My Health and Saved My Life

by Susan Clark

I have suffered all my life with chronic fatigue and constant sickness. But in 1986, at age 30, my health took a dramatic downward turn. I had fallen down the stairs and subsequently went to a chiropractor who used heat treatments on my back for several weeks. As a result, my health deteriorated even further, and I was dealing with extreme weakness, dizziness, and migraine headaches, as well as extremely weak nerves. Over the next 6 months I grew worse and worse. I saw a Naturopath who told me there was something really wrong with my body, but he was unable to find the source. I knew from his tone that I was in very bad shape and growing worse. I could not stand for more than a minute or two. I was homebound. I went from one doctor to another, but none of the doctors could help me. I knew that without some kind of miracle, I would not be around to see my children grow up. 
 

Through a series of circumstances, I heard about the Erdman Clinic, which was then in Havertown, PA. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I called them and made arrangements to spend a week at the clinic. I did not know it then, but the decision to go to the clinic literally saved my life.

Upon arrival at the Erdman Clinic in January 1987, it was determined by Dr. Erdman and staff that my arteries were extremely dilated. They began cold treatments, and I began to feel better and better. After several days of treatments, my arteries constricted on the last day of my visit. My hands and feet became very warm, and I felt stronger than I had in a long time. Dr. Erdman told me that I might not hold my constriction, and taught me how to do the treatments on my own and how to check for dilation. He was right; after arriving home from the clinic, I went through periods where I was dilated and after cold treatments, periods where I was constricted. I was encouraged to keep up the treatments, and told that my arteries and my body would heal with time. Over the next few years my health slowly improved. My migraines ceased, and I gained new strength. Due to the severity of my illness it took several years for my nervous system to recover, but for the most part it did, except that I could not handle stress well.  I was eventually able to return to a somewhat normal life, although I still had times when I did not feel well and had to watch my stress levels. But my strength had returned so I was grateful. 

 I have continued to improve health-wise in the 32 years since I went to the Erdman clinic. In 2013 while seeing a holistic doctor for the source of why I often did not feel well, I was diagnosed with long term chronic Lyme disease and 6 co-infections, the symptoms going back to childhood. I realized at that time that the health crisis I had gone through at age 30 was due to Lyme disease, and that improving my circulation with the Erdman treatments had allowed my body to fight it off and keep it at bay, and had helped my nervous system that had been affected by the Lyme disease. The Erdman Therapy literally had saved my life. I underwent holistic treatment for Lyme disease and completed my journey to healing.

Today I am 62, and am stronger and feel better than I ever have. I am grateful for my once poor health because it caused me to learn more about how to stay healthy. Today I host a Facebook Group for chronically ill people. I teach them about how to stay healthy, recover from illness, and I encourage them in the process. I am truly thankful for the Erdman therapy. It gave me my life back! Today I have three grandchildren in addition to my two grown children, and I am able to enjoy every minute! I owe my life to the Erdman therapy and encourage others to use it.

 

If you just want to know enough to get started, download the Erdman Quick Start Basic.

 

For a full discussion of the history, method, and complexities of the therapy, download Comprehensive Practical Erdman. Erdman therapy can be easy, but it's not simple.

 

If you want to see some research, download Dr. Wes Ulrich's paper Migraine Treatment Using a Physical Medicine Approach.

 

For information about pulse strength, skin temperatures, and use of a special thermometer, read Dennis Cochrane's article New Discovery.

 

A relevant article was published in American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in 2003 (volume 82, pages 972-978): Salcido R., Musick D.W., Erdman F., “Erdman therapy: A treatment utilizing hot and cold therapy.”

 

This is a topic that provides fertile ground for research, although it offers no value to pharmaceutical companies or medical device makers. We welcome news of studies, and also your reports of your own experiences using it.

 

For much more about Erdman therapy, theory, its founder, and history go to www.erdman.org.