Alternative Treatments Reflexology
Reflexology is a kind of foot rub but it’s not just a foot rub to make you feel loved, oh no, it’s more than that.
It’s believed that rubbing the feet helps to relieve stress but again, it’s not that simple. You can’t get your partner to rub your feet when you get home from a busy day, feel all good and relaxed and then label them a reflexologists, it takes training and an understanding of human anatomy to pin point particular parts of the foot and toes, hands and even the ears to interact with specific parts of the body.
By applying pressure to these parts, the central nervous system is stimulated, therefore affecting the corresponding parts of the body. It does this by sending a calming message from the peripheral nerves in these extremities to the central nervous system, which in turn signals the body to adjust the tension level.
This will enhance the overall relaxation, bringing internal organs and their systems into a state of optimum functioning. an increases blood supply will follow bringing additional oxygen and nutrients to cells and enhancing waste removal. It affects the circulatory, respiratory, endocrine, immune, and neuropeptide systems in the body in a very positive way.
The gate control theory is another explanation for how reflexology works. This theory suggests that pain is a subjective experience created by your brain. The brain will do this in response to the sensory experience of pain, but it can also work independently of sensory input and create pain in response to emotional or cognitive factors.
This means that the things that influence the brain, such as your external or mood factors such as stress can also affect the whole experience of pain. According to this theory, reflexology may reduce pain by reducing stress and improving mood.
There is another theory to be considered. The human body holds energy and reflexology can heal that energy when it becomes congested due to some kind of stress. Keeping the energy flowing is the back bone for this theory.
Something called zone therapy is where it all began. The body is divided into 10 zones all of which have corresponding parts. For example, if you are standing up with your hands on your thighs (palms facing down) the thumbs and great toe would be zone 1. On either side of the body, the index finger and second toe would be zone 2, etc.
In reflexology theory, our entire body is linked up to other parts of our bodies, every organ, valve, muscle, etc. that lies within a zone can be accessed via a point or area on the feet or hands. For example, working between toes 2 and 3, or fingers 2 and 3, will help the eye because the eye point is found as a link to these parts.
This is where the nervous system comes into play because the paths between these body parts are connected via the nervous system.
Reflexology will help to bring peace and harmony to your body and can help many different complaints and the best thing is, it usually just feels nice.
Below is a list of the common ailments for which reflexology is used for.
- Anxiety
- Arthritis
- Back pain
- Chronic illnesses - diabetes, MS
- Chronic pain*
- Depression
- Digestive disorders
- Fertility
- Hormonal imbalances
- Migraine
- Pregnancy related condition
- Preparation for and priming of labour
- Relaxation
- Sinusitis
- Sleep disorders
- Sports injuries
- Stress
- Stress related conditions.
Always ask your doctor about reflexology and make sure you go to a well established practitioner.
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