Health Alternatives

Reflexology Is Pressure At Its Best

Dating back to ancient Egypt, India and China, reflexology stimulates certain parts of the hands or feet by applying pressure. Without oil, lotion or cream, the pressure increases circulation and promotes overall health. The most common method of reflexology used today can be traced back 125 years to Europe and Russia.

Pressure to the sensitive hands, feet and ears is believed to effectively treat over 93% of sixty-three different disorders. People who have received reflexology treatments experience improvements in their physical and emotional well being as well as their self-esteem and confidence.

Benefits of reflexology include relaxation from everyday stress, alleviation from neck, shoulder, and lower back pain, and increase in circulation throughout the body. Regular sessions of reflexology can lead to better health, less stress, and an overall sense of feeling well. Medical symptoms can also be treated with reflexology. Pain from back stress, headaches/migraines, menstrual cramps, sprains, and arthritis can be relieved. Others report positive results in treating sleep disorders and infertility. Reflexology is safe to use on infants, pregnant women, and the elderly or ill. This natural technique stimulates and relaxes the body simultaneously. Relief from pain related to medical conditions has been reported immediately after treatment with reflexology.

Learning the techniques of reflexology is so easy that it can be practiced in the privacy of your own home or office. You can choose from on-site classes or online classes to learn the basics. Books and videos are also available, and many specialty stores offer socks and gloves with reflexology maps printed on them. If you take a course, you will learn the basic techniques as well as the anatomy of the hand, ears and maybe lower legs, including the bones and muscles. In conjunction many courses include massage techniques and alignment exercises.

Several theories are offered to explain why or how reflexology works. The most popular "nerve" theory suggests there is a connection between points of the feet, hands or ears and other parts of the body. By applying pressure through massage on one point, it affects the connected body part.

The "meridian" theory is another popular explanation. According to this theory, the body is criss-crossed with at least 14 energy lines called meridians. Each line consists of hundreds of pressure points with some being in the hands and feet. When those points are massaged, a sense of well-being is created.

Similar to the "meridian" theory, the "vertical/horizontal zone" theory feels the body is divided into ten wide vertical strips or 4 horizontal strips. Each part of the body is located within one of these strips, and if pressure is applied to one area it helps that entire particular zone.

What should you expect of a professional reflexology session? The session will probably last between forty minutes to an hour. You usually sit in a chair with your feet raised. The practitioner will use his/her hands and thumbs to massage the troubled areas. Aromatherapy and breathing techniques are often combined with the reflexology to create an even deeper effect of relaxation and better circulation.

Common Herbs And Some Specific Uses

Skin Problems

In addition to Aloe, the best known herb for skin treatment, try Evening Primrose Oil. Apply directly to the irritation. Should be available in your health food store.

Sore Throat

Slipper Elm capsules will do the trick for a raging sore throat. Just remember that it is probably a portent of a cold, flue or strep to come. Another treatment is a few teaspoons of crushed Eucalyptus leaves per cup of boiling water for a soothing tea.

Sunburn

Use wet teabags to apply to sunburned areas. Aloe applied to the affected areas is always a good recommendation. Calendula speeds the healing of burns. You can probably find commercial creams that contain Calendula at your health food store.

Swelling

One of the active components in Ginger is Zingibain. One gram of Zingibain can tenderize as much as 20 pounds of meat. The most pleasant method of ingesting Ginger is to eat Ginger candy. Pineapple is also known to contribute to the reduction of swelling. Tastes good too! Dandelion is a potent diuretic and can remove some of the excess fluid that causes swelling. You can also purchase capsules.

health alternatives

Go to the new RSS page and renew your subscription.]]>

IMPORTANT: Bing News RSS feed has moved!

For reasons natural health professionals don’t fully understand, a pain pill remains the preferred, easy and convenient option for relief of headaches, minor aches and pain. Short of a little stomach upset, taking pain medication seems safe enough to some.

Biofield therapy: an emerging natural health alternative for pain management

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- For many Americans, a beef burger is the way to go. But there are other tasty proteins to take beef's place that might offer fabulous health benefits as well. When you think of a burger joint, sustainable and health-conscious don't ...

Healthy burgers - tasty patty alternatives

When someone can't afford prescription medicine and turns to holistic nutrition, meditation, and Qi Gong, for example, what alternatives are offered in Sacramento in holistic health that are free or low-cost? For seniors, there are free or low-cost chair ...

Holistic health and income inequality in Sacramento explored

Zane Benefits, which provides small businesses with comprehensive and flexible alternatives to traditional group health insurance, this week published a new article on the history of Health Savings Accounts. With the article, the company seeks to provide ...