Stop that runny nose with your feet!

One of my regular reflexology clients said recently, “I wonder how this is going to help my allergies this year?”

She told me that when she began having weekly reflexology sessions last spring, it was the first year she didn’t suffer from itchy eyes and sniffling when all the pollen appeared. Was it a fluke, or was the reflexology helping?

I told her that reflexology addresses sinus areas through the reflex points in the toes and fingers. And by stimulating the movement of lymph, it could also be helping to strengthen her immune system.

But I was intrigued. Was there other research that showed a connection or a correlation between reflexology and reduced sinus problems?

Well, there was a very small study on rhinitis in China:

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“Foot reflexology was applied daily to three cases of rhinitis for 30 minutes. After three sessions symptoms had subsided, even for a patient experiencing rhinitis for 20 years. A course of 10 sessions was applies to ‘consolidate the effect.’ Symptoms had not returned two years later for this patient.”
– Xiu, Ma, "Observation on the Treatment of Rhinitis with Foot Reflexology," 1994 China Reflexology Symposium Report, China Reflexology Association, Beijing, p. 139.

And a more recent (2002) University of Wisconsin School of Medicine study had 150 chronic sinusitis sufferers randomly split into three groups. One group used a bulb syringe with a saline solution for daily nasal irrigation. Another group did the same with a neti pot. “Group three (the control) performed reflexology massage daily for two weeks.”

The results: “After two weeks of daily treatment, more than 70 percent of those who practiced either form of nasal douching reported improved symptoms. But surprisingly, the group that practiced reflexology massage – where pressure is applied to the feet or hands but may produce changes elsewhere in the body – appeared to fare equally well.”
— “The Saline Solution?,” Andrew Weil’s Self Healing Newsletter, January 2002, p. 2.

Okay, maybe not conclusive results. But definitely a bonus benefit to the stress relief and deep relaxation that reflexology offers.

Do you know someone who suffers from severe allergic reactions during spring and fall pollen seasons? Let’s see if reflexology can help! Have them email me or give me a call at 404.406.5204.