2 Day Reflexology Course Includes Certification
January 6th 12pm to 5pm
January 7th 12pm tp 4pm
Reflexology is linked to many potential benefits, but only a few of them have been evaluated in scientific studies.
So far, there’s limited evidence that reflexology may help to:
- reduce stress and anxiety
- reduce pain
- lift mood
- improve general well-being
In addition, people have reported that reflexology helped them:
- boost their immune system
- fight cancer
- get over colds and bacterial infections
- clear up sinus issues
- recover from back problems
- correct hormonal imbalances
- boost fertility
- improve digestion
- ease arthritis pain
- treat nerve problems and numbness from cancer drugs (peripheral neuropathy)
There aren’t many studies about reflexology. And many experts consider those that do exist to be of low quality. In addition, a 2014 review concluded that reflexology isn’t an effective treatment for any medical condition.
But it may have some value as a complementary therapy to help reduce symptoms and improve someone’s quality of life, much like massage. Since the massaged area is the feet, for some people that will provide even more relief of stress or discomfort.
Here’s a look at what the research says about using reflexology to manage pain and anxiety.
Pain
In a 2011 studyTrusted Source
funded by the National Cancer Institute, experts studied how reflexology treatments affected 240 women with advanced breast cancer. All women were undergoing medical treatment, such as chemotherapy, for their cancer.
The study found that reflexology helped to reduce some of their symptoms, including shortness of breath. The participants also reported an improved quality of life. But it didn’t have any effect on pain.
Experts have also looked at the effects of reflexology on pain in women experiencing premenstrual syndrome (PMS). In one older studyTrusted Source
, researchers looked at the effects of ear, hand, and foot reflexology on 35 women who previously reported having of PMS symptoms.
They found that those who received two months of reflexology treatment reported significantly fewer PMS symptoms than the women who did not. However, keep in mind that this study was very small and done decades ago.
Larger, long-term studies are needed to fully understand whether reflexology helps to reduce pain.
Anxiety
In one small studyTrusted Source
from 2000, researchers looked at the effects of one 30-minute foot reflexology treatment on people being treated for breast or lung cancer. Those who received a reflexology treatment reported lower levels of anxiety than those who received no reflexology treatment.
In a 2014 study that was slightly larger, researchers gave people undergoing heart surgery a 20-minute foot reflexology treatment once a day for four days.
They found that those who received the reflexology treatment reported significantly lower levels of anxiety than those who didn’t. Touch by another human being is a relaxing, caring, anxiety-reducing action for most people.