Reflexology, although sometimes considered a New Age therapy, has ancient origins. Archeological evidence suggests that a type of reflexology was practiced in Egypt around 2330 BC and in China around 2704 BC. It is a healing practice that seems to have spontaneously arisen in different parts of the world independently.
What is Reflexology?
Reflexology is the therapeutic application of pressure to the feet or hands with thumb and fingers to specific zones and reflex areas that correspond to different regions of the body. Reflexology does not employ lotions or oils but relies upon direct contact with the foot or hand. It is considered a complementary treatment primarily for the reduction of stress.
In reflexology, the right hand and right foot are connected to the right side of the body; the obverse is true for the left side. Each hand and foot is divided into five sectors that relate to specific areas of the body. Maps of the hands define the anatomical location of the organs, glands and other components of the body. Reflexologists place pressure on those sectors and cause the body's "fight-or-flee" reflex to relax, according to practitioners.
Hand Reflex Areas
In addition, there are seven reflex areas of the hands similarly connected to areas of the body. These include the head and neck area, situated in the thumbs and fingers; open area of the abdomen and thorax, located at the waistline of the hand at the base of the metacarpal; reproductive organs, connected with various parts of the wrist; spinal column, outside edge of thumb from its tip to the base; arm reflexes, situated on the little fingers; and the lungs, lymph nodes and breasts, top of the wrist and back of hand.
Self-Reflexology
Trained reflexologists have the knowledge and skills to administer hand treatments, but you can also perform the same techniques on yourself.
Begin by putting your left thumb on the bottom left corner of your right hand. Using firm pressure, slide your thumb across your palm and to the other side of your hand. Then place your thumb just above the initial starting point, repeat the procedure across your palm until the whole palm has been treated. Apply the same technique to your left hand, starting at the lower right corner of the palm.
Press your right thumb firmly into the left palm just a bit higher than the center point, while cupping your left hand. Repeat on the opposite hand.
How Effective?
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts studied the effectiveness of hand massage, with and without soothing music, in calming agitated behavior by nursing home residents. Sixty-eight nursing home residents with dementia were divided into four groups to receive various combinations of treatment, A control group received no intervention. Calm music and hand massage were both found effective in quieting agitated behaviors.
Another study at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Israel compared diagnostic effectiveness of reflexology with traditional diagnostics in the same group of patients. The researchers found that reflexology has the ability to reliably diagnose at a systematic level body systems that represent organs and regions with an exact anatomic location.
Scientific Support
The latter study seems to lend scientific support to the claim of reflexologists that their method of applying pressure to specific reflex regions does, in fact, affect the organs connected with those regions. More than 170 studies of reflexology have been undertaken to test various aspects of the practice. Reflexologists claim 90 percent of the studies show "a positive result" for the patient.
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