- by Theresa Klepper
I was chatting with my boyfriend the other day about the wonderful benefits of Reflexology. He asked "does receiving a foot massage have the same affects as foot reflexology?" That got me thinking, hmmm... I'm not sure. Let's turn to the research.
Many studies illustrate that both modalities aid in relaxing and releasing stress. However, there are certain benefits that the patient will receive solely from Reflexology. When dividing patients up into two groups with one receiving foot massage and the other receiving foot reflexology, the concluding report was that the patients receiving the foot massage did not have the same experience. Their symptoms remained. The group that received Reflexology was cured of their symptoms.
Pressing on the reflex points does a couple of things: floods the associated organ with oxygen (measured on fMRI), brings the patient to a super relaxed and meditative state (measured brainwaves on EEG), decreases pain, and raises the body's response to stressors. None of these effects occur with massage.
Foot massage does not systematically go through each organ in the body and press on its reflex point. It does work locally on the soft tissue and eases muscle pain and soreness.
More generally said, Reflexology works the nerve endings and massage works the soft tissue and muscles. In turn, they each yield different results throughout the body.
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