Today its used as acomplementary therapyto relieve pain, sleep troubles, digestive issues, and other health concerns.
In addition to the feet, reflexologists may use pressure points on the hands and ears.
Massage therapists work specific muscle groups to relieve pain.
Aside from massage, reflexology shares parallels with other healing modalities.
TCM makes use ofmicrosystems in the earand foot that share similarities to reflexology maps.
Here are a handful.
This graphic shows reflexology points on the feet, which in theory, correspond to other parts of the body and when pressed or massaged, may promote healing.
May Help Relieve Pain
The deep relaxation and rest induced by reflexology may provide pain relief, research suggests.
The participants agreed to receive 25 minutes of foot reflexology as part of their standard care.
After one reflexology session, the patients filled out a small survey about their experience.
More research is needed to determine if reflexology can help with PMS symptoms.
The practice may also relieve mental health effects of chronic conditions and diseases.
Participants were assessed for anxiety both before and after their treatments.
Anotherstudyincluded 75 women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who were divided into three groups of 25.
May Improve Sleep
For people who havetrouble sleeping, reflexology may be a supportive therapy, some research suggests.
Areview published in the April 2021Journal of Advanced Nursinganalyzed 42 studies involving nearly 4,000 patients with sleep troubles.
Some research suggests reflexology has benefits as a complementary therapeutic approach to help patients cope with these effects.
But some scant research has found it may help with certain digestive symptoms, primarily constipation.
Ashley Welch has more than a decade of experience in both breaking news and long-form storytelling.
As a former staff member at Everyday Health, she covered a wide range of chronic conditions and diseases.
She enjoys yoga and is an aspiring runner.
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