Should reflexology be seriously considered as a first aid treatment to meet emergency situations? It has been our experience and the experience of others that, yes, reflexology technique is a valid and, at times, life saving procedure. Reflexology should be studied for its capacity in emergency intervention.
Our research with reflexology in emergency situations is anecdotal. From our observations and literature research, however, we developed a theory about the effectiveness of reflexology in emergency situations. Our research raises questions about sensory stimuli and body response. A sleeping mother is tuned into the wave length and sensory stimulus of her child's cry. She will respond to it, ignoring all other noises in the night. Similarly, pressure sensors in the feet when activated prompt a wave of activity that, literally, arouses the organizational centers in the brain. The demand of pressure to the feet creates a coordinated response throughout the body.
The importance of such activity is underscored by what happens when the body is not organized. A study of what happens at the time of the death was conducted at the University of Maryland Hospital emergency room. Medical personnel monitored vital signs of the seriously ill or injured. They found that body systems failed to stay organized at the time of death. Our own experience with a moment of death (See below) illustrated for us the ability of reflexology to prompt the body to organize. The question of future research will be the impact of reflexology technique on the body's organizational ability, its fight or flight mechanism. Under study will be the foot's sensory link into our internal emergency broadcast system, the portions of the brain that arouse, stimulate and/or relax the body.
Reflexology for Revival
In an era of growing concern over mouth to mouth contact for resuscitation, reflexology should be studied as a practical tool for revival. The longest continual nerve in the body runs from the middle of the big toe to the the portion of the brain stem that regulates basic functions such as breathing. The middle of the big toe represents the pituitary reflex area associated with revival. Revival is achieved by applying the hook and back up technique or direct pressure to, approximately to the center of the big toe.
Undoubtedly our most striking personal example of the technique's effectiveness was Mrs. W.. We were doing a home call on the older couple. Mrs. W. was bedridden and paralyzed following a series of strokes. Senile dementia and coma had been diagnosed. We were working on Mr. W. in another room of the house when the nursing attendants started calling for help. Mrs. W. had quit breathing. After calling for the paramedics, we were left alone with her. We had just seen the first half of a program on CPR that ended with the comment, "And next week we'll show you how to do CPR." Mouth to mouth resuscitation did not bring a response. Kevin said, "What should I do. I don't know CPR." Barbara said, "Do what you know. Go for her feet." Kevin made a few passes over the adrenal reflex area and then applied a goodly amount of pressure to the pituitary reflex area several times. Mrs. W. came erect in the wheel chair and started swinging her feet. As Kevin moved the wheel chair foot rests so she would not hurt herself, he asked, "Mrs. W., Mrs. W., do you know who I am." She responded, "Of course I do. You're a jackass." The staff in the other room cracked up. They knew that Mrs. W. was back. The paramedics arrived in 7 minutes. Neither they nor the hospital could find anything wrong.
Triggering the Relaxation Response
Relaxation is seen as a general overall response to reflexology work, but the triggering of a relaxation response can be focused in an emergency situation. A basic theoretical construct that pressure to the feet can cause a corresponding reaction in another part of the body can be harnessed for immediate, site specific relaxation. The following example shows reflexology technique applied to a reflected part of the foot in an emergency situation. It was a classic case of stimulus / response.
We stopped by to see our printer. He was at home cooking for an office Christmas party. When he answered the door, he said, "I'm glad to see you," and literally pulled us into the house. It seems that he had just eaten a cocktail sized meatball to test his cooking. He was struggling with the fact that part of the meatball appeared to have lodged in in the pyloric valve and he was in pain. He knew, however, that his immediate problem was more than just pain. He had undergone a stomach stapling operation several months earlier to stem a morbid obesity problem. The lodged meatball had the potential of ripping out the stomach staples. Prior to surgery, Dick had been informed that he would bleed to death before he could get to a hospital in such an eventuality. We were mindful of this situation as he lead us to the recliner so we could work on his feet. We each grabbed a foot, expecting Kevin on the left foot that covers most of the stomach reflex area to provoke a response. It was on the right foot, however, that Barbara felt a pronounced bump in the stomach reflex area. After he had received a few passes of technique application over the bump, Dick excused himself, went to the bathroom and lost his lunch. He came back, breathing easier and with a relaxed abdomen. The bump was gone from the foot.
Strokes, Shock and Injury
Ruth Hahn of Piqua, Ohio was called to a neighbor's home. The woman had obviously suffered a stroke but she refused medical treatment and insisted that Ruth work on her feet. Ruth worked for five hours. At the end of the time the sagging facial features had disappeared as well as other signs of the stroke. A Canadian reflexologist told us the story of having a client going into a seizure in the recliner. The reflexologist applied technique to the adrenal reflex area and the seizure stopped. The manager of a Santa Fe health food store told us about suffering a head injury following a fall in a remote section of a national park. During the two hours it took to convey him to a hospital someone worked on his feet, taking away what he perceived to be as increasing shockiness. The head injury required eighty stitches.
Pain and Discomfort
A client called to cancel her teenage daughter's appointment. The two of them were sitting in the emergency room waiting for the daughter's abdominal pain to be treated. Due to the lack of diagnosis no pain medication was administered. During what turned out to be a five hour wait for an appendectomy, the mother applied pressure techniques to the hand to dull her daughter's pain, using what we had taught her to locate an effective site to work.
Another client was the wife of a minister who paid visits to residents on Indian reservations. She would politely eat red enchiladas and drink coffee that would set off gastric distress for her. As they left the Indian home, she would ask her husband to drive her to the emergency room. One day they were again on the way to the hospital and she decided to try working on her hand. Using pressure techniques, she was able to avoid the inevitable trip.
Considerations for Reflexology Use in First Aid
1. Learn first aid.
2. Don't panic when the emergency situation arises.
3. Call for medical help.
4. Apply accepted first aid techniques such as CPR if you know them.
5. If you are in a situation where you've decided to apply reflexology technique, consider what part of the foot or hand to work. The pituitary and adrenal reflex areas are good after shock, trauma and for revival. Consider the area of the body being affected. Using the general scheme of a reflexology chart, find the reflex area on the foot or hand. Search the area for the most effective point. Listen to the individual for feedback.
6. Give your reflexology client a reflexology education as part of your service. While we don't go into details unless asked, our clients generally receive a rough sketch knowledge of the foot and hand reflexology organization. Simple principles such as right foot corresponding to right side of the body and markers on the feet and hands such as waistline and diaphragm can help.
In conclusion, reflexology can and should be tested for its effectiveness in an emergency situation. It is non-invasive, noncompetitive with other emergency procedures and, some times, it's the only game in town. A Russian emigrée who corresponded with a noted Russian political prisoner sent him reflexology information to maintain his health coded between lines of her letter. You can never tell when a little knowledge will mean a life.
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ŠKunz and Kunz 2009