Reflexology: Holistic Healing

Reflexology is a form of holistic healing and that can be used by anyone, including children, at any time to bring the body into balance. It can be used on either the hands or the feet because the body has many reflex points in these areas. The concept of reflexology is that applying pressure on different reflex points will stimulate the body to heal itself. The most common way to apply pressure is using your thumbs, however there are tools available that will help make this process easier such as hand and foot rollers, finger clamps, etc.
Anxiety is a feeling of nervousness or fear over the unknown outcome of a situation resulting in stress in the body. The level of emotion felt ranges from low to extremely high depending on a person’s
“The patients were randomized to two groups: Group A (receiving reflexology on the first contact) and Group B (receiving reflexology on the second contact) (Stephenson, Weinrich, & Tavakoli, p. 68). “All patients with lung or breast cancer were included in the study during a 20-week period if they were 21 years of older, spoke English, and gave informed consent” (Stephenson, Weinrich & Tavakoli, p. 68). “Anxiety and pain were measured prior to the intervention, at the beginning of the control time (a 30 minute time period during a day without the intervention), following the intervention, and at the end of the control time”. (Stephenson, Weinrich & Tavakoli, p. 68). “Anxiety scores, used to measure the effects of foot reflexology on anxiety, were significantly lower after foot reflexology in both groups” (Stephenson, Weinrich & Tavakoli, p.
2014). “In this randomized controlled trial, 80 patients who met the inclusion criteria were conveniently sampled and randomly allocated to the experimental and control groups after they were matched on age and gender. On the days following surgery, the experimental group received foot reflexology massage on their left foot 20 min a day for 4 days, while the control group was given a gentle foot rub with oil for one minute. Anxiety was measured using the short-form of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Visual Analogue Scale-Anxiety.” (Bagheri-Nesami et al. p. 42). “Patients were included if they met the following criteria: willing to participate in the study, first non-emergency cardiac surgery, and cardiac surgery using a heart-lung machine”. (Bagheri-Nesami et al. p. 43). “The significant decrease in anxiety in the experimental group following the foot reflexology massage supports the use of this complementary therapy technique for the relief of anxiety” (Bagheri-Nesami et al. p.