18/08/2023
Interesting piece showing pressure doesn’t have to be firm
I am often asked whether the pressure applied during a reflexology session makes a difference to the outcome of a treatment. In one of the experiments I carried out whilst undertaking the worlds first PhD in reflexology and pain management I showed that whilst both standard and light reflexology had an effect on pain threshold and tolerance, light reflexology had a larger impact on heart rate.
Title: Effects of foot reflexology on nociceptive responses in an ice-pain experiment
Introduction:
Pain is a major medical problem that many patients have to deal with. Dependence to opioid drugs and cardiovascular side effects associated with the use of cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors, indicate the need for use of nonpharmacological interventions. We have previously reported that foot reflexology has antinociceptive effects in human subjects (Samuel and Ebenezer, 2013, Comp. Therap. Clin. Prac., 19, 57-6). We demonstrated that reflexology increases pain threshold and pain tolerance in an ice-pain experiment. We suggest that there is a need for clinicians to integrate conventional medicine with alternative /complementary therapies to better manage acute and chronic pain in patients.
Aims:
The principal aims of the study were to (a) confirm our previous observations with standard foot reflexology (SR) on pain threshold and tolerance in an ice-pain experiment, and (b) extend previous results by comparing the effects of SR with light foot reflexology (LR; where the pressure used was approximately 50% of that used for SR) to determine whether there is a pressure-related antinociceptive effect.
Method:
The effects of SR and LR were assessed in a controlled ice pain experiment that was ethically approved, as described previously (Samuel and Ebenezer, 2013). Briefly, subjects were required to place their non-dominant hands into a container of crushed ice pre-treatment and at designated time intervals over 120 min post treatment. Two measurements were recorded: (a) Pain threshold, that is when the subjects reported that it was painful, and (b) Pain tolerance, that is when the pain became intolerable and the subjects withdrew their hands. Heart rate (HR) was also monitored during the experiment. SR, LR and no treatment controls were administered to the subjects in a Latin Square repeated measures design, with 7 days separating each trail.
Results:
There were some variability in the responses of individual subjects to reflexology. Statistical analysis of the data showed that SR and LR produced significant increases in pain threshold and tolerance compared to control. Pain threshold and tolerance for SR increased maximally post treatment from a mean control of 14.5 +/- 2.3s to 29.5 +/- 5.5s (P
