Health Through Reflexology

This article will give an overview of reflexology and its related health benefits, including relief of sciatica pain.

Many people have heard of reflexology and even heard it is a great way to remove pain, stress and other problems, but don't know just what it is. Here's a quick overview.

Reflexology is a process where the pressure points in the hands and feet are used to impact the health of the entire body. Reflexology has a history that spans back as far as Egypt 2300 BC and spans thhrough generations since. The healing art revolves around a map of pressure points that link various areas of the hands and feet to points throughout the body. Pressure applied in appropriate amounts to these pressure points will cause reactions to those areas of the body.

The best way to understand how this works is that the nerve endings in the hands and feet are connected to various parts of the body. For example, one of the nerve endings on the foot may be connected to the bladder. If a person is having bladder problems, applying pressure in the right way and amounts to that nerve ending may be able to run along the nerve, to the bladder and alleviate the problem.

Another example is sciatic nerve pain. When people talk about being a pain in the backside they may as well be talking about sciatic nerve pain. Sciatica pain is a pain in the body's largest nerve, the sciatica, which runs down from the buttocks through the leg. Many people feel pain from their hip to the ground and this can be a very debilitating pain. Reflexology on the right pressure points can relax this nerve and help to alleviate the stress on the nerve as well as the pain.

The person applying the reflexology techniques must be trained to do it just right to see results. Depending on the area being worked, it could be pressure applied by a thumb, finger or even the whole hand.

In addition to putting pressure on the specific points of the nerve endings other motions are used as well. Often there are stretching and pulling techniques that are much like massage techniques which even use oils and lotions as would be used in massage.  These techniques are used to relax the person being worked on as well as loosen up the area to be worked to make it more receptive to the pressure that is to be applied.

In another respect it makes sense to think of reflexology as closely tied with massage. Part of the purpose of the technique is to reduce stress.  In addition to holding the nerve pressure points to the body, the hands and feet are also often the focus of tension in the body. Therefore, working to relieve the tension in those appendages through pressure can also be a trigger to the rest of the body that it is time to start letting go of tension and can lower the stress the body is feeling.

When it comes to deciding whether reflexology is right for you and how it can help you with a medical problem, you should always consider that reflexology is a compliment to other medical treatments. If you are currently under a doctor's care you should not leave that care, but use reflexology as an additional supplement to help you see results and feel better more quickly on your path to recovery from a medical condition.

While reflexology has been used for centuries, there have not been studies completed to prove the effectiveness of this method of treatment. For this reason it is always recommended that you get medical help for any problems and not only rely on reflexology as a cure.

This article was written by Mary Franz for HealthyNewAge alternative health website.

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