Reflexology Using the Hands

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the whole of the body is represented on the soles and tops of the feet. Therefore, a reflexologist massaging the feet can massage the entire body.

Massage helps to boost circulation, improve lymphatic drainage and aids relaxation. This same complementary therapy can be carried out on the hands.

Annie Day, the owner of Heaven Scent Bliss in Stafford, uses the hands instead of the feet for reflexology when her client has diabetes and has a lack of sensation in his or her feet, if they are ticklish or simply don’t like having their feet touched.

“It’s a smaller area but it is just as potent as a healing tool, and in Chinese medicine they often use it as much in reflexology as the feet,” she says. “You get the same benefits. It’s just there are more teachers and more colleges and institutes who teach reflexology on the foot and don’t look at hand reflexology. You can do reflexology on the hands, head and ears.”

The state of your hands can give a trained reflexologist an insight into your emotional and physical wellbeing before they perform the therapy, as Annie explains: “The heart is under the ring finger on the left hand, which traditionally is where you put the wedding ring. So if there’s hard skin you could say that’s from cleaning or hard work but sometimes there’s been a big trauma or emotional issues, like a divorce, and it’s the body’s way of protecting the heart.

“Things like a fungal infection are usually metaphysical issues, like finding it difficult to move on from a difficult relationship, to leave a job you don’t want to be in or finding it difficult to move forward.”

Annie shows her clients how hand reflexology can be used every day to aid them: “Look at your hand palm up. There’s a flap of skin between your thumb and finger and if you massage this with gentle, circular movements, with a carrier oil or just dry, this can help reduce constipation and increase healthy bowel movements. If you look at the tips of your fingers, they correspond to your scalp. So where the first knuckle is, below the finger plate, that’s where your sinuses are. I get a lot of people with headaches with sinusitis so I tell them to massage their hands morning or evening.”