Foot Reflexology: Self-Healing Technique Overview and Benefits

Foot Reflexology - a therapeutic form of foot massage - is an alternative healing technique that has been used for centuries. Early man, walking barefoot over the open countryside, was enjoying the benefits of reflexology without even realizing it. Both the ancient Chinese and Egyptian cultures valued the healing effects of foot reflexology on the entire body.

Not until the early twentieth century did reflexology reach the West; and its benefits are largely lost on us, a society that values sharp clothes and tight little shoes.

What Is Reflexology?

Jamming your toes into tight shoes - especially dress shoes - actually restricts blood circulation to muscles and nerves. Reflexologists work to correct this imbalance, believing that specific areas on the feet reflect all of the body's internal organs and systems. When pressure is applied to specific points on the feet, dissolving deposits of uric acid crystals that have settled in the feet, the body is stimulated from the inside out.

Each of the specific points are called reflex zones. Systematic pressure to these zones increases circulation of blood and nerve supply to your body, triggering a natural healing process.

Reflexologists might identify places in the foot that are sensitive to pressure or note skin changes to determine what is causing health problems. They can also work with a person who knows they have a specific health problem - a pinched sciatic nerve, for example - and concentrate on the reflex zones that are related to that problem.

In general, the form of therapy is used to aid people suffering from fatigue, circulatory disturbances, headaches, backaches, and menstrual complaints. Used in combination with an herbal diuretic, it also helps remove toxins from the body and restores a proper fluid balance in the body's tissues.

Applying Reflexology at Home

You don't have to be a reflexologist to enjoy the benefits of this therapeutic massage. While having two hands and at least a few fingers is definitely a bonus, you don't even need that.