In addition to the report Maeglin cited showing no demonstrated effectiveness for reflexology, an updated literature review has come to similar conclusions:
“It is concluded that the best clinical evidence does not demonstrate convincingly reflexology to be an effective treatment for any medical condition.”
And if Girl Next Door hates that study, she will absolutely loathe this article on the emerging “science” of butt reflexology. It has way cool diagrams (who knew that an entire human being is represented on one’s ass?).
I’m not trying to be mean, really. If all you tell patients is that you use a massage technique that some people find really relaxing, no problem. Selling it as anything more is where difficulties arise.
And since that goes against what the official boards state, it shouldn’t be sold as “Reflexology”, either. If you are just practicing the massage part of the teachings, call it massage.
It was sincere. I don’t necessarily mean any disrespect. I definitely think that if a treatment feels good, cannot be proven to be harmful, and at least one person finds it helpful, then people can knock themselves out. But I don’t think that medical knowledge admits to degrees. If there is no sound medical basis for reflexology, then the foot-bath people aren’t any wackier than the more mainstream ones. Well, ok, perhaps they are wackier interpersonally, but I don’t see how the basis of their practice is any less sound.
I definitely think there is an art to relaxing other people. No one doesn’t want to be relaxed. I don’t understand why people who practice relaxation disciplines need to make so many other frequently grandiose and ill-specified health claims.
I don’t. I welcome research. My reading of that abstract gives me hope that more thorough research will be done.
Ha! The Butt Reflexology hoax made me laugh, but you’re right, I did loathe the article. Mostly for this line (and the snarky presumptuous stuff that followed it):
That sort of “all CAM aficionados think THIS” stuff is what chaps my ass. It’s what I’m seeing here in this thread, too. I posted at least two different threads from leading authorities in the field stating that* reflexology is not intended to diagnose or cure any medical condition* and yet I still get stuff like this:
Difficulties indeed! Try getting thrown into jail for practicing medicine without a license! I’m not stupid. I’m a licensed health care provider for the State of Washington (that’s the massage license, reflexologists are unregulated, which also makes me crazy…there’s talk of changing that which I am most amenable to.) I take SOAP notes, keep client charts (we are not allowed to call them “patients”), and am bound by HIPAA laws. Reflexology is merely an extra modality I offer for clients who either cannot receive massage or would like to try it out.
Look, I realize that there’s always going to be this incredible bias by some against anything that isn’t “mainstream medical science”. That’s fine. I can’t fight that fight. But I do respectfully request that you (that’s a collective you to anyone who has thrown up the quack/woo-woo/weirdo argument) consider that it’s entirely possible that the fringe doesn’t represent everyone, and that there are sane, intelligent people who are curious about new and different ways to feel better and who are willing to experience them.
I don’t think you’re being mean. I think you’re being obdurate. But you probably think the same of me so I guess it’s a push.
Change that to “I don’t understand why some people who practice relaxation disciplines need to make so many other frequently grandiose and ill-specified health claims.” and I’m in complete agreement.
It’s real enough for me, and I definitely have it. I’d love to know what you’ve tried, and I’d love to share what I’ve tried. Maybe not appropriate to this forum, so we could PM each other and talk about our experiences.
tdn - I’ve just tried sliding my head back and holding it. I have some physical limitations and some muscle weakness (not related to this) that make it difficult if not impossible to do some of the exercises I’ve found online.
Girl Next Door - I am reading your posts, however I have read the posts of others, too. If you lived in central Illinois I would seek you out. I just got the impression that others writing did not see this as real, and since I am not a medical professional, did not want to assert that it’s real.
What is strange is that a woman at my church has this, but I didn’t know what it was called. I used to wonder what was going on, and wasn’t she in pain or uncomfortable. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I found I was much worse.
I don’t think anyone here has any problems wiht relaxation techniques, but that isn’t the sum total of what Reflexology is at all, and the two concepts are not interchangeable no matter you often you switch the two terms in the middle of a conversation. Reflexology at times may involve relaxation techniques, but its very base is built on pseudoscience, and this can be directly proven by quoting the official bodies that regulate it.
And because the web page to which you linked as an example of the kind of research you welcomed did make the claim that reflexology cured things like acne.
You have also alleged that reflexology is different from massage, and has different effects -
And
So if you are backing off from those claims and implications, that’s fine, but then you need to make your real claims clear.
So are the following claims accurate?
[ul][li]There is no good evidence that reflexology has any effect that is different than that of massage. []There is no hard evidence that the meridians claimed by reflexology exist. []Most of the claims made by the Chinese journal of reflexology on the webpage are bullshit.[/ul][/li]
Regards,
Shodan
Before this thread I had no name for it either, but I could immediately identify with it. Kind of like the first time I heard the term “Restless Leg Syndrome.” To someone who has never suffered from it, it sounds very strange. But to those of us who have suffered from it, the words just snap everything into place.
I’ve always felt like a bit of a hunchback, and kind of felt like it was just the way I am. There’s nothing I could do about it. It was just a few weeks ago when someone looked at me and told me that she could see where my energy is being blocked, and put a hand on the base of my neck. Wow! She saw me. She spoke my truth. She spoke, and I’m damn well going to listen.
I can see how skeptics would be skeptical of that.
Girl Next Door, maybe it’s not reflexology that’s helping your patients. Maybe it’s just the way you pay attention to them.
“CAM aficionados” do have a strong tendency to buy into multiple ridiculous ideas via the power of crank magnetism, as we have seen repeatedly (so there’s more than mere snark behind the observation).
An unfortunate choice of words. “This product/treatment is not intended to diagnose or cure any medical condition” is part of the standard disclaimer used for supplements, alternative treatments and “cures” of all kinds (to get around FDA regulation) and is known as the Quack Miranda Warning.
No, there’s a “bias” against any health modality or treatment that makes sweeping non-evidence based claims, which unfortunately reflexology advocates commonly do.
*“Reflexology is a science” (*not so fast, fellas) …“The Ingham Method® of Reflexology is used primarily for relaxing tension. Doctors agree that over 75% of our health problems can be linked to nervous stress and tension. Reflexology improves nerve and blood supply, and helps nature to normalize.”
It’s a trap. I have “forwad head” as well. I also have had chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain for years. When I first heard “forward head,” I had the same feeling that at last, there was a name for my dysfunction. Most massage therapists know where my pain points are immediately.
But then I scratched the surface a little. I started looking at other peoples’ posture. A lot of people have forward head and seem to be in no pain at all. I do have a little degenerative disc disease in my neck, but so do a lot of people who never even need MRIs. The muscles in my neck are not measurably weak or maladapted at all. There was no observable reason why I should be in such pain. Ok, fine, there may be unobservable reasons. I heard all about those.
The same practitioners of complementary medicine tried to tell me that both my posture and my emotions were responsible for the pain. They relied heavily on John Sarno’s research into supposed “tension myositis syndrome.” Apparently the pain was a maladaptive response to undesirable emotions and stress. Sarno argues that there is no real physical source to the kind of pain I experience. So I had people try to tell me that my pain is caused by my posture and by my emotions at the same time. Sarno’s emotional explanation for pain is by construction inconsistent with physical explanations. Sarno argues that physical causes, including posture, are bunk.
Fine, so my complementary medical people wanted to have it both ways. Makes intuitive sense, right? Why can’t the emotions and posture both cause pain? Then why can’t the alignment of the heavenly bodies cause pain? Or the fact that my bed faces south when I sleep? If two completely inconsistent explanations can both be true and valid, why not any other?
At least my doctor told me honestly that he had no idea what was causing my pain but could give me pills when I needed them. It’s not a great long-term solution, but after 12 hours of work, sometimes it’s the best one available on any given day. I medidate, stretch, and do relaxation exercises as well. I have convinced myself that they help, and they do.
Either we need a really, really strong theory of how some mechanism works or we need a ton of empirical support to show that treatment does even if we don’t know why. I think there are a lot of pharmaceuticals that we only dimly understand how they operate. But there are a lot of studies that suggest that they more or less do, though these studies of course have limitations. We don’t have either one of these in complementary practices. I think we do have intelligent, caring, and talented practitioners who genuinely believe they are helping people. Sometimes I am sure they do. But people also go into spontaneous remission from doing nothing. At least doing nothing doesn’t cost you anything.
I gladly and frequently pay for massage or other relaxation techniques. I don’t find they help me long-term, but they are a fantastic way to spend an hour. For me, that’s good enough. The pseudo-science gives it the smell of the swindle, and I can’t stand that.
I don’t doubt that possibility for a minute, tdn. In fact, that’s what I’ve taught my massage students: It’s important to learn your anatomy, physiology, and pathology. It’s important to learn and improve your techniques. But what ultimately is going to make you a good massage therapist is how you pay attention to your client.
That’s hitting me like a ton of bricks this morning. The power of listening is incredibly awesome. This is why it’s important to see your doctor if you’re sick. Even if he doesn’t do anything for you, the simple act of going is theraputic. I think this is even documented, but I’m not sure. I want to find out, though.
I’ve just been hearing this stuff for in the last couple of weeks. It actually makes sense to me. Bad posture is merely the body trying to do stuff it’s not meant to do, and that can cause pain. Bad emotions cause us to protect ourselves in small ways that mimic or cause bad posture, and the cumulative effect of that is the same sort of pain.
I’m willing to believe that.
What I’m a little more skeptical about is that actual emotions are stored in the body. Everyone knows that if you change your emotions, you change your body. What’s less known is that if you change your body, you change your emotions. And yes, there are studies that prove that. But are actual emotions stored in your body?
There’s someone that’s telling me that she can touch me in the right way – not sure if it’s massage or what – and I can expect to have really strong emotions come up and be purged.
Is that true? Can that happen? I don’t know, but I’m not taking anyone’s word for it. I don’t want to see any studies. I don’t give a shit what science has to say about it. This is something I want to find out by direct experience. If this woman can give me a massage and cause me to cry like a little bitch, that would be really cool!
What “science says” is really just what a lot of people say under controlled circumstances. If it feels good, is cheap, and doesn’t hurt, you, then knock yourself out. But that sets standards pretty low.
