Reflexology Massage & Your Health

Our hands and feet do a lot of work in our day-to-day operations, but do we really pay attention to how they feel?
Reflexology is an ancient Chinese and Indian practice dating back as far as 3000 BC. “Reflex” in “reflexology” signifies “reflection” – the feet reflecting the state of the entire body and is sometimes accompanied by acupuncture. It was introduced to the West in 1913 by a British physician named William Fitzgerald, who was interested in eastern medicine practices.

In reflexology, the feet are mapped into “zones” – these zones represent where the “blockages” of energies happen. Reflexologists believe that when the body is unwell, it excretes uric acid or calcium crystalline, which blocks the blood flow and affects the nerve endings of the feet. By applying pressure to different “reflex” points on the feet, the corresponding body parts are awakened to fix the problem areas to reach a balanced state. Though we possess reflexes on our hands and feet, feet are generally believed to be a more sensitive area, and respond more effectively to pressure and massage techniques.

A reflexology examination includes a detailed examination of the feet – both visual and manual, and comparing it with the patient’s medical history. Symptoms such as changes in skin colour and tone are recorded, as well as the patient’s sensitivity level (pain or tenderness of the feet) during manual examination.

A typical session includes palpitation, or placing crystal deposits beneath the feet to locate sites of tenderness or pain. The crystals represent remote organ diseases. After locating problem sites, the reflexologist performs deep, pressure-point massages to relieve the bodily ailments by attending to the feet.

Reflexology may be effective for improving (relatively non life-threatening) chronic conditions like constipation, headaches, and high levels of stress. However, patients should not view reflexology as replacement to medical treatment but only as complementary therapy; reflexology cannot fix structural (bone or nerve) or surgical conditions.

So far, the medical world views reflexology with reservations – in an article published in The European Journal of General Practice, authors Edzard Ernst and Kerstin Köder found that only 13 percent of American physicians believed reflexology to be useful as complementary therapy. However, there is growing interest in the medical literature about the ability of reflexologists to suggest possible medical symptoms – an article published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice journal in 2005 presents a case study where a midwife with an expertise in reflexology was able to detect a thyroid problem in her patient by the greyish tinge in her foot that represented the neck area.

So far, reflexology is not regulated by federal laws in the United States, but North Dakota, Tennessee and New Hampshire all have state laws regarding licensing and registration for reflexologists.
To find professional reflexologists in your area, refer to the Reflexology Association of America’s website.

References:

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t749989318

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B7MFN-4JKHJC6-3&_user=458507

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