Advanced Medical Reflexology

10/30/2025

With Brandon Lake – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

09/15/2025

Babies are especially responsive to reflexology. Many mothers will instinctively rub their children’s feet and hands when their child is cranky, crying, or uncomfortable. Reflexology works very well for most babies.

Reflexology is effective and safe, it is based on the principle that reflex points found on the feet and hands correspond to specific organs, muscles, bones and body systems.

Babies’ feet have undeveloped arches, and their skin and bones are usually fairly soft making reflexology an effective and fast modality for babies. By applying gentle pressure to congested areas in the feet, blockages can be released to restore the flow of energy to the whole body.

Results for babies are often experienced immediately and can soothe a cranky baby or help to relieve tummy pains or constipation.

Reflexology with children can begin at birth and can be used as a valuable tool for parents to dissipate their children’s stresses in a nurturing way. As your baby gets older and begins walking the use of reflexology can also be combined with checking the development of the feet. Children’s feet should be checked regularly to avoid problems caused by ill-fitting shoes such as: flat feet, corns, toe deformities; as well as looking for infectious conditions such as: athlete’s foot and warts.

Reflexology is particularly beneficial for babies who have experienced a difficult birth such as forceps or ventouse. Tiny bones of the skull will have experienced great pressure as a result of the use of these instruments, and it has been found that these bones can be marginally misaligned. Reflexology can help to correct this in the gentlest of ways

You can use reflexology as a natural healing therapy for acute illnesses as well as a preventative maintenance tool for good health.

Tips for a relaxed reflexology session with your baby

Use a gentle pressure as you would while massaging your baby.
If a child is sick, reflex points will be quite sensitive
If your baby pulls its foot away from you as you are working is a good indication that it is not enjoyable and that you should stop and try another approach later.
Work no longer than 5-10 minutes for the entire treatment, depending on what your baby will comfortably tolerste.


Finding time for reflexology

Babies get wiggly and it can be hard to find a time when baby is happy to be still to have his feet played with.

For young babies you can try working on your baby:

As part of your massage routine
While asleep
While feeding
While rocking
In a carry pouch


With older babies you can also:

Play this little piggy went to market or round and round the garden while pressing the relevant parts of the foot. A few presses here and there and you have a reflexology workout that is a natural extension of a fun game
During bath time


How often should you use reflexology?

For a specific chronic problem such as reflux or eczema, once a week for three to four weeks is the best way to start out. Results can then be maintained with bimonthly or monthly treatments.
Reflexology can also be used to maintain good general health, the routine outlined on page 17 can be used as an extension as your daily massage.

How to do reflexology

The basic formula of a reflexology treatment is simple.

Relax and bring blood flow to the foot with a quick warm up
Find the relevant reflex area
Apply a technique- Experiment with different techniques and find what works for you and your baby. This is likely to change as your baby gets older.
Continue technique application until symptoms stop or recede to an acceptable level. For more chronic conditions you can apply reflexology techniques consistently three times a day, symptoms or no symptoms. The goal is to break up the stress pattern. Over the course of several weeks, you should see improvement in any longer lasting symptoms.


Popular techniques

These are techniques used by reflexologists mostly when working with adults. While these techniques are also valuable tools for working with babies and young children, as a parent working with your baby it’s fine to invent your own techniques. The most important thing is to stimulate the appropriate reflex area and to alternate stimulating techniques with more relaxing ones.

To improve the accessibility to specific reflex points you can use one hand to gently hold the toes back.



Relaxation techniques

Use stroking and milking massage strokes on the feet at the beginning and the end of the session as well as in between the stimulating reflexology techniques. This helps to take the intensity out of the session.

You can also make up you own relaxation foot massage, the more natural it feels to you, the more relaxing it will feel to your baby.



Stimulating techniques

Thumb Walking

This technique helps to consistently hit the reflex points every time and is used by reflexologists to cover larger reflex points. This is the best way to massage the intestinal reflex area.

You can practice the thumb walking technique as outlined below and or watch the instructional video that follows.

Step 1: Grasp your thumb at the second joint. Bend and unbend the first joint.

Step 2: Rest your hands on your leg. Now bend your thumb at the first joint. Unbend it. Proceed to bend and unbend your thumb, taking small steps forward with each bend and walking down your leg.

Step 3: Now rest your fingertips on the surface of the arm. The thumb rests of the under side of the arm. Holding your fingers in place, bend and unbend your thumb on your arm. As you unbend your thumb, take a small step forward. Practice “walking your thumb” in a forward direction.

Your fingers stay in place until your hand is stretched uncomfortably. Reposition the fingers and keep them in place as the thumb again “walks” forward.

Step 4: Maintaining the position of your fingers, lower your wrist slightly. Do you notice your thumb is now exerting more pressure? Now drop your wrist lower. Do you feel even more pressure?

The amount of pressure you apply is controlled by lowering or raising the wrist. Leverage is thus created by an interplay of fingertips, wrist and thumb tip.

Step 5: As you practice the thumb walking technique on your arm, try to exert a constant steady pressure. This is most easily achieved by effective use of leverage as described above.

Note: The contact of the fingernail may create a comfort problem for the person with whom you are working. Be aware of the fingernail marks you may be leaving. If you are concerned about comfort or if you have long nails, use the flat of the finger or thumb to exert pressure or use a different technique.



The hook and back technique

This technique is used to hit a particular point.

Use the four fingers for leverage on the other side of the foot and apply pressure with the outside edge of the thumb on the specific point. Then pull the thumb slightly backwards without releasing the pressure. Do not let the thumb slide off the spot. Hold the position for a few seconds and release.

The reflexology foot map

This is a map used for adults but it is exactly the same for babies, just miniturised.



Reflexology as a maintenance tool for your baby’s health

Used in this way reflexology can help your baby’s body to heal itself by detoxifying, relaxing and balancing it.

This routine can be used on a daily basis and can help to detect and even treat imbalances before your baby experiences any symptoms.

The reflex area for solar plexus is the foot’s number one point for relaxation.
Gently press your thumb there while holding around the foot with the rest of your hand.
Make small circular movements until you feel a subtle “let go” from your baby, almost like an exhalation.
Do both feet simultaneously.
Step 2

Start by the arrow on the right foot and press a little bit with your thumb. Stay a moment and try to feel the area. Are there any small irregularities just under the skin?
Massage the area gently, and move up slowly, feeling each and every little bit of the area until you reach the end of the pink color on the left foot. It can be repeated several times if your baby doesn’t protest; this will stimulate the colon and the bowel movements.
Step 3

The kidneys belong to the eliminating system of the body; they filter the blood.
Massaging the kidney points can be a great stress-reliever.
Start at the top on the right foot where the kidney area is located and massage gently for a while, then move down along the ureter and end up at the side of the foot where the bladder is situated. It is not visible on the picture, but the bladder area begins exactly where the green color ends.
Massage lightly, one foot at a time.
Step 4

You might hear a little cough when you start massaging the lung area.
Start from the bottom of the area and work your way up.
Massage one foot at a time.
Step 5

End your massage with the sinuses. These areas should be caressed. Put all your love into the massage and softly press on each toe.
If your child has a cold, this could help release mucus and clear the head.
If you feel like continuing, then massage other parts of the foot. This is the time when the two of you are sharing a deeply relaxing and loving experience. It doesn’t matter so much if you do it right; what matters is that you both enjoy it.

08/27/2025

FIBROMYALGIA:
LISTENING TO THE UNBEARABLE WHISPER OF THE BODY

In the presence of fibromyalgia patients, I have witnessed a complexity of human experience that transcends the limits of medical descriptions. Their bodies speak a language of pain that is both overwhelming and precise. Every touch carries the possibility of comfort, but also the risk of intrusion. It is as if the nervous system itself has lost its filters, leaving the person exposed to the raw intensity of life.

What strikes me most is the paradox: these patients are often among the strongest individuals I have met, yet they carry the weight of extreme vulnerability. Beneath the exhaustion, the tenderness of muscles and fascia reveals a history of resilience stretched too thin. Pain, unfortunately, becomes their constant companion, and with it comes an incredible sensitivity, not only physical, but emotional, relational, and existential.

Medical Reflexology sessions, I have seen how even the gentlest approach can awaken profound and unexpected reactions. Sometimes tears flow, not from suffering alone, but from the sudden relief of being understood without words. And this is the most impactful achievement when working with these patients: the moment they feel genuinely understood.

Other times, silence reigns. This silence feels sacred, as if the body is finally allowed to rest. Or perhaps it is because the stories they carry are so heavy that they prefer to keep the scream deep inside. It is difficult to reconstruct the painful situations that, in most cases, brought them there. These encounters remind me that fibromyalgia is more than a clinical condition, more than a label on the patient’s forehead. It is a dramatic human condition, a testimony of survival where the body itself holds the memory of battles fought in silence. Battles they never asked to fight.

Medical Reflexology is communication. And the way I understand the subtle communication that must be established between the patient and me offers a way to enter this territory with profound respect, and I have always felt privileged to access these hidden records of suffering. My hands became translators between the nervous system and the possibility of calm, but my heart remained open to connect with theirs, as far as they would allow. I noticed that every careful movement and every word carried an unspoken promise: you are safe here, you can soften, you can breathe. Over time, the body begins to learn again that it does not need to remain in a perpetual state of alarm.

To walk alongside someone with fibromyalgia is to witness the courage it takes to live every day with heightened perception. It is to honor their story, not by trying to erase their pain, but by offering presence, patience, and the possibility of small victories. Sometimes those victories are not measured in the absence of pain, but in a night of restful sleep, in a few hours lived without fear, in the freedom of a breath that does not hurt.

And within this understanding, one truth becomes clear: their feelings of failure and imperfection are not weaknesses, but openings: the key that allows us to offer a hug from soul to soul.

Thank you for reading me.
I´d love to know about your experience, and your insights are warmly welcome. 🙏

08/21/2025

Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant truck driver, faces three homicide charges and deportation after causing a Florida crash that killed three people.

08/21/2025

08/21/2025

Innovation in Medical Reflexology: beyond what you learned

Every profession evolves, and Medical Reflexology is no exception. The foundations we first learned remain valuable, but they are only the beginning.

Today, innovation and precision open new doors in how Medical Reflexology can respond to pain. The profession grows with us, and through us. The only question is whether we are willing to grow with it.

What innovations have you integrated into your own Medical Reflexology journey?

08/17/2025

Reflexology and Autoimmune Diseases - Beyond Pain Relief

Autoimmune diseases pose a significant challenge for individuals afflicted with them and those who support them throughout their care journey. Due to intricate and multifaceted reasons, the body's immune system mistakenly targets its own tissues, resulting in chronic inflammation, fatigue, and often persistent pain.

In the field of Reflexology, it is understood that pain is merely one symptom that impairs quality of life; stiffness, inflammation, sleep disturbances, and emotional exhaustion are also prevalent. Consequently, the objective extends beyond merely alleviating pain to creating an internal environment that enables the body to regain optimal balance and well-being.

Specific Reflexology stimulation techniques, such as those employed in the TOP II Method, effectively:

• Activate the parasympathetic nervous system to mitigate the inflammatory response.
• Enhance microcirculation and lymphatic drainage.
• Facilitate the release of endorphins and neurotransmitters that modulate pain perception.
• Support restorative sleep and emotional regulation.

Multiple Sclerosis serves as a prime example of an autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system. Its symptoms, ranging from muscle weakness to coordination issues and neuropathic pain, necessitate an integrative approach. Reflexology can complementarily:

• Relieve muscle tension associated with spasticity.
• Stimulate reflex points related to the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves.
• Improve tissue oxygenation and energy availability for daily activities.

The prevalence of certain autoimmune diseases varies geographically, and despite extensive research, a definitive explanation remains elusive. Prominent theories suggest factors such as limited sunlight exposure and its potential impact on vitamin D synthesis; however, paradoxes exist. San Marino, a Mediterranean country, has the second-highest incidence worldwide after Canada. Could isolation, whether due to climatic, geographical, or sociocultural factors, contribute to the psychophysiology of the illness?

As Reflexologists, although we may not resolve this complex issue, we possess a range of techniques and an understanding of the holistic principles underlying the body-mind-spirit connection.

Progress may be gradual, but cumulative. When applied with a comprehensive understanding of pathophysiology, Reflexology becomes a supportive tool that restores autonomy, reduces pain intensity, and enhances quality of life.

02/16/2025

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09/07/2024

We sure love our farm-acies.