Guidelines and information on specific types of reflexology

Foot Reflexology is an old, safe and wonderful healing methods that can be performed easily. Here you will find some general guidelines and information on specific types of reflexology.  If you find the information overwhelming – JUST RUB YOUR FEET!  Follow your instincts and you can still experience great results without worrying about the details.

1. Healing reactions.
These can occur when a treatment brings up an old symptom or condition to be healed, or if it quickly removes a symptom. With chronic conditions, such flare-ups or healing reactions are not nearly as common.

2. Overdoing a treatment.
Reflexology is very powerful. Do not treat yourself or another person for more than 20 to 30 minutes. Only trained people may be able to do longer treatments.

Reflexology can remove some toxic substances from the body very quickly. If these are not released fast enough, or if you do a session for too long, you can experience some mild toxic effects that usually disappear quickly. These typically include some nausea, light-headedness, and dizziness. These are not usually worrisome, but they can be uncomfortable and therefore should be avoided.

Always have just one person rub your hands or feet at a time. More than one person working on the same foot or hand is usually too much. It is probably okay to have one person work on one foot while another works on the other. However, even here, please be careful, as too much treatment is not helpful and can cause some inflammation.

3. Rubbing too hard.
Rubbing too hard may cause pain, and even a black and blue mark. If this happens, allow the area to heal for a few days, and then use much less pressure on this area in future sessions as the veins may be weak in that area.

4. Rubbing the top of a foot or hand too hard.
The blood vessels in this area are far more delicate so use less pressure and be gentle when working on the tops of the feet or hands. Use some oil, if needed, to make rubbing smoother.

5. Rubbing too lightly.
During a session, you should find some painful areas as well as areas that are quite tender. If you are not feeling any of these sensations, you may be rubbing too gently. Try increasing the pressure a little bit.

If you do not have enough strength in your fingers to do a good job at reflexology, use a foot roller, hand roller, or perhaps sit on a recliner and place your feet on the edge of the foot rest to be able to apply enough force or pressure on the foot. A tennis ball under the foot works well too. You can control the pressure on the foot and roll the ball around, spending a little more time on areas that are tender.