Arthritis Relief at Your Fingertips: The Complete Self-Care Guide to Easing Aches and Pains Without Drugs

Here, Gach (author of Acu-Yoga and founder of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, Calif.) confines himself to acupressurethe application of finger pressure to specific points on the bodyas well as techniques of self-massage and stretching exercises to ease the pain of arthritis. He notes that acupressure's arthritis relief points are ascertained empirically, which means by guess and by gosh, and all accounts given here of his treatment's success are anecdotal; clinical trials and data are not presented to support Gach's regimen. Although he provides the reader with several positive approaches to dealing with arthritis (exercise, diet, massage and stress reduc tion), the author weakens his case with purely speculative divinations (e.g., foot reflexology). (Feb.)