PORTSMOUTH, 2011 – A PhD thesis at the University of Portsmouth has revealed that manually applied reflexology can increases both pain treshold and pain tolerance in healthy volunteer subjects!
Reflexology, one of the many complementary medicine modalities available, may be a suitable adjunct to pain management by helping to reduce the number of medications and associated side-effects from continued drug use.
Reflexology incorporates the use of specific pressure techniques to the feet, hands or ears. There are many anecdotal claims for reflexology in the treatment of various conditions such as migraine, arthritis and multiple sclerosis but very little clinical evidence exists for reflexology in the management of pain per se.
Pain is a worldwide concern and 10% of the UK population suffer from chronic pain, making demands on an already overstretched NHS service. Members of the public seek more control over their wellbeing and there is a growing trend towards complementary medicine.
This research therefore, enters at a time when the call for scientific evidence is sought and offers new evidence for the efficacy of reflexology in acute pain. Various experiments were executed in order to investigate the acute effects of the principal aims of applying reflexology under various conditions.
Research Conclusion:
Manually applied reflexology increases pain threshold and tolerance which seems to be independent of any changes in autonomic function.
FULL SUMMARY:
An investigation into the efficacy of reflexology on acute pain in healthy human subjects