Your reflexology questions answered5 Nov 11 Q Thanks for the great info. Please advise why my left third toe would be swollen and sore. Seems like this is indication of a chronic condition. Ella from Netherlands Antilles A Hi Ella. Thank you for your question. There can be many reasons why that toe is swollen and sore, but it is impossible to use reflexology to diagnose if that is a chronic condition. Unfortunately reflexology is just not a medical diagnostic tool. If you have any concerns about illness always see a medical professional, it’s the only way to get a straight answer and move into treatment if needed. With your swollen toe Ella we recommend seeing a Foot Doctor and having it professionally checked out. After that it is a good idea to see a General Doctor for a check up. They will check your blood sugar, blood pressure, breathing, check your eyes and ears and make sure you are generally ok. During this appointment bring up any concerns you have with them and ask for their advice. Should anything be wrong they should identify that during the appointment. If you still have concerns or aren’t happy with their advice seek a second opinion and even a third until you are satisfied. Once you have done that, and they give you the green light that you are ok we recommend doing full reflexology foot treatments to yourself once a week/ fortnight (depending on what suits you best) for three months, and then once a month after that. During the session; at completion of doing left foot (we always do the whole right foot first, then left foot), repeat all toe steps on left foot (including rotating the joints, thumb walking, rotating on meridian points). Then do the same to the toes on your right foot. Finish with relaxation exercises. Always wrap up with a big glass of water. Remember rather than using reflexology to try to identify chronic illness (which is impossible), we must use it to see the body as a whole, use it to keep balance/ good health in the body and understand that everything is interrelated. The reason a part of the body may have a problem is because there has been a massive failure/ blockage within the system it belongs to. For example; Heart Disease is extremely common in western society but a) we cannot identify that a person has heart disease simply by doing reflexology on their feet. b) we cannot blame the heart by itself for being diseased. A person may contract heart disease due to many different reasons, the most common being genetic or lifestyle choices. Eg a person may eat highly processed food, have a high cholesterol diet, maybe only exercises by walking up the stairs to work and smokes cigarettes. These factors mean the body is not receiving nutrients from food that it needs- is malnourished and unable to prevent disease to its optimum ability, lack of exercise- leads to weak muscles and bones meaning they have no healthy strong body cells for the body to rely on in times of stress, and cigarettes slowly kill the lungs- meaning the body doesn’t receive enough oxygen to function properly; especially the brain and cardiovascular system-the heart. We must understand that all illness comes from multiple system failures and the best way to prevent illness is by keeping our systems as healthy as possible. Sometimes we can't do much about our enrivonment and that can be the most damaging factor for destroying balance in our bodies Eg; living in a smog filled city. But we can control the food we eat and how often we do reflexology- by eating good food we can compensate for the nasty chemicals we breath in, and by doing regular reflexology we can eliminate blockages in our system before they become illness. The point of this example is to show how we must care for the entire body, understand how it works together, and heal entire systems that house a problem, not just problems themselves. Reflexology is the perfect way to do that because it helps to balance the systems within the body (click here to learn more about the bodies systems), increase blood circulation (thereby helping dispose of waste from the body) and helps the person relax. It is through regular Reflexology treatment that we can eventually break down blockages in the body’s energy pathways. Acupuncture is another therapy that aims to clear blockages in our energy pathways, it uses the same meridian maps and is fantastic but it must be studied for many years to become a professional. We hope this answer helps you! Best Regards, Lenina @ HowToDoReflexology.com If you have a question you'd like answered please send it to us here, we'll get back to you within a week and post the answer here to share. 18 Oct 2011 Q A friend has asked my to do reflexology on them but they having problems with their balance and have had earache for sometime, awaiting a brain scan, would it be ok to do this therapy on them? Pauline from UK A Hi Pauline Thank you for your reflexology question. In this case you need to ask your friends General Doctor if they would recommend it or not. Reflexology is 99.99% perfectly safe, but if the person is undergoing a serious treatment or you feel unsure for any reason at all you must consult a Qualified Medical Professional. Reflexology is known to have helped cancer patients and all types of ill people, but always always consult the Doctor first. Let us know what the Doc says! Looking forward to hearing from you Lenina @ HowToDoReflexology.com 11 Nov 2010 Q It says to drink water a lot when doing reflexology, why? Rose from Singapore A Hi Rose, Thank you for your reflexology question. And you are so right, it does say a lot of times to drink a lot of water when receiving reflexology. Reflexology does three important things- relaxes you, promotes balance and harmony within your bodies different systems, and increases your blood circulation Water has to do with reflexologys third function; increasing blood circulation. When blood circulation is increased by reflexology it also increases the ability of the body to heal and get rid of toxins and waste. Its absolutely amazing to know you can increase the speed at which you heal. It also increases the amount of rubbish your cells get rid of.. similar to when you do spring cleaning in your home. And the way that your cells transport and get rid of waste..? Water. Water is your bodies garbage men. And if there's not enough garbage men working..? You get piles of stinking rotten garbage. So water is important to transport and get rid of your bodies dead cells, waste, toxins and anything else it doesn't want anymore. Check out the page on water here for more info to answer your reflexology question Best Regards, The How to do Reflexology Team
3 Nov 2010 Reflexology question A Hi Terry, Thanks for your reflexology question, Yes it can definitely help with an over active bladder! First go and see your doctor to see if this is a medical problem as they are the first port of call for any concerns about your health. If you've already seen a doctor and its not a medical condition then heres some tips and background info on the bladder to help answer your reflexology question... Foot reflexology is best, and the bladder is one of the easiest reflexology areas to find! For reflexology to help you just have to do two things, 1) do reflexology over the whole foot as well as the bladder and other indicated areas 2) do it regularly (once a week, fortnight is good, even once a month is ok if you are totally pressed for time) A common reflexology question is can you do it yourself? Yes its more than possible to do a quick twenty minute reflexology session DIY, ten minutes on each foot if you are pressed, or take some time and do it for longer Its important to do a whole reflexology session to make sure you are hitting the organs that support the bladder just in case one of them is off and it's adding to the over active bladder, the bladder is just one part of the urinary system, it relies on the kidneys, the right acid/ alkaline balance, it's regulated by the pituitary gland... Step one Do reflexology over the whole right foot then the whole left foot, use the steps on our foot reflexology instruction page (click here to open in a new window now) Step two Gently rub in circular motions or thumb walk for an extra half a minute each, the following areas (do all of them on the right foot then all on the left foot); The Pituitary Gland (this controls your bladder.. and pretty much everything else in your body) it is located on the bottom of big toe, in the middle but slightly to the inside of the toe just about where the toe print lines meet together. This is usually always sensitive as it has such a big job to do so be gentle. The Kidneys (they filter all the water and waste from the bloodstream and intestines and send it to the bladder) are easy to find, first locate the waist on the foot. Looking at the bottom of the foot, the waist is the area thinnest in width about halfway between the toes and the heel. It is in a different spot on every person and reflects their body, just like every one is different heights and shapes. The kidney is in the same spot on both feet, underneath the second toe just above the waist line. The Bladder is on the inside of both feet, directly under the ankle bone and just above the spinal area. It is easy to identify because it is the roundish puffy area and a little lighter or darker in colour from the surrounding skin. Finish up with a glass of water.
The bladder is an elastic sack that holds urine ready for release from the body. When you drink water it is absorbed into your bloodstream, and scoots around your body renewing cells and helping to collect, then transport dead cells and waste from the bloodstream. For the excess water to get out of the bloodstream with all of the waste it collects it pays a visit to the mighty kidneys! The kidneys do a massive effort taking up to an amazing seven litres of liquid out of your bloodstream every single hour every day, sorting through what's useful and what's poisonous. The useful stuff goes back into the body and the nitrogenous waste gets sent to your bladder. For some people it seems like as soon as they have a drink of water they need to go to the toilet. Their body for some reason is speeding through this process or skipping it all together! A surprisingly large amount of people experience an over active bladder at some point through their lives and its a common reflexology question if reflexology can help. Over active bladders can often be fixed through diet, see a nutritionist or natural health therapist to see what you can add or take away from your diet to fix this. For example a basic law of human bodies is that salt helps the body to absorb water.. maybe you're not getting enough salt in your current diet? Give it a go (be careful and see a doctor though because excess salt can cause heart congestion) Its best to check with a doctor because an over active bladder can be a simple thing to fix. If it is a serious medical problem that you need to seek treatment for ask your doctor if you can have reflexology and if its ok we recommend seeing a professional reflexologist who can provide regular reflexology therapies, tracking your progression and helping keep you relaxed and focused on a positive outcome from the medical treatment. The Bladder has it's own Meridian energy line as well, even seeing an Acupuncturist or Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner may be good as they are able to help open any energy blockages on your bladder energy line. Contact us with your reflexology questions here!
27 Oct 2010 Reflexology question Are there specific points for the throat on the paw? Our dog has throat cancer but still remains strong. Being experienced in foot reflexology, I am confident using it will help heal him. Thank you. Bill from USA A Hi Bill, Thank you for your reflexology question. Yes! There are specific points on dogs paws to reflect the throat area. Dogs love being touched and actively seek a pat more often than not, just remember that the feet paws and base of legs are traditionally not an area that a dog is used to being touched and they probably aren't used to being touched there. This means do it regularly, start small doing only a little bit of reflexology while they are already sitting or lying down relaxed, and be conscious of if the dog is enjoying it, this is a relaxation therapy so enjoyment is critical to the therapys success. The neck/throat area on a dog is the ankle area of all the feet. Between the large middle pad on the bottom of the foot and the dew claw. On some dogs the dew claw can be missing or was cut off as a puppy, it is like the thumb on a human in the sense that it is just to the side and a little higher than the other claws. If there is any trouble finding it a) don't worry about it and just do reflexology to the whole ankle area of the dogs feet, or b) go to google images and search for "canine dew claw" and see a tonne of pictures that will help you find it. Dog reflexology technique is the same as for doing reflexology to human hands. Using the forefinger, gently apply a small amount of pressure to the area, keeping the finger in the same spot make circular motions one way and then the other way for about five seconds each way. The amount of pressure to be applied is very light, lighter than a massage but heavier than simply touching the skin. Be aware that there are ligaments and nerves in this area and avoid rubbing too hard. Using this technique, do the whole area (all the way around the leg) between the claw and the large pad on the bottom of the foot. Reflexology works to promote balance so continue over the rest of the foot and help promote great health to the dogs whole body. The next step is to do the large pad on the bottom of the foot, followed by the smaller pads. Best Regards, The How to do Reflexology Team
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