VOLUME 26, NUMBER 2, April. 2005
Twenty-two members of the British Reflexology Association (B. R. A.) utilized the Bayley Method of Reflexology with thirty-five clients "to test the effect of reflexology on clients suffering from insomnia and its effect on their everyday functioning." Clients were assessed at the beginning and the end of the course of sessions with a survey asking about various aspects of insomnia and everyday functioning. The survey was repeated a month after the end of sessions. Results showed an overall reduction of 25% of the symptoms of insomnia and a reduction of 18% for associated symptoms of insomnia (i.e lack of concentration, anxiety, stress, forgetfulness, indecision, lack of placidness, low energy levels.)
The findings are published in The 2004 B. R. A. Survey of the Effects of Reflexology on Insomnia. The editors highly recommend this published work as a very fine example of research procedure. B. R. A. members previously conducted Co-operative Research Surveys in 2000 (stress) and 2002 (irritable bowel syndrome) "with many reflexologists working on the same condition and using the same basic method of reflexology."
The newest concept in dentistry? The "dental spa." "Sounds strange, but the seemingly polar-opposites worlds of dental offices and day spas are colliding, much to the delight of phobic patients everywhere. a growing number of dentists are borrowing the luxuries typically found in day spas to create a relaxing, more inviting dental experience for their patients. In some cases, they're actually combining the two concepts to create a new type of business known as a 'dental spa'." The American Dental Association reports that "about half of dentists now offer at least one spalike perk to patients." Wynn Okuda, a cosmetic dentist at Dental Day Spa in Honolulu, offers patients a 30-minute massage before dental work. "And once they're in the dental chair, a therapist provides acupressure, reflexology or other relaxation techniques while patients watch movies through 3-D glasses."
(www.ajc.com/health/content/health/0305/13dentalspa.html)
Talk show host Regis Philbin spoke in positive terms about his reflexology spa experience during a recent broadcast of his TV program: Regis: "Then I had reflexology. Kelly: "So they did your foot?" Regis "Yeah, I believe that that works." A reporter from The Wall Street Journal, however, responded negatively to her reflexology spa visit. The article reviewed services for children at a number of well-known resorts. "Our grown up experience (at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs WV) was less rosy: The fitness center seemed dated, with a treadmill that rattled as we ran. During the $66 reflexology spa treatment, our therapist insisted she could tell by our feet we had thyroid problems. (Not true)." (Keates, Nancy, "Kidding Around," The Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2005, p. W12) ("Live with Regis and Kelly," April 1, 2005, ABC)
Firefighters came to the rescue when a woman's foot was trapped in a massage machine that she tried out at a Hong Kong department store. She was testing the OTO Big Foot massage machine when she felt a sharp pain in her left foot and couldn't remove it. Firefighters dismantled the machine and Lau was sent to a hospital and later discharged. OTO Bodycare, the machine's manufacturer, withdrew the product following the incident, newspapers reported. ("Foot massage machine snares woman in Hong Kong," January 24, 2005, Associated Press. www.iol.co.za)
When the April 10 NASCAR race at Martinsville was broadcast live on Fox TV, one announcer noted that "It will be fun to watch, time for the virtual crew chief, which is most important, finesse patience or reflexology." It seems that the comment stems from a a blog at AllWaltrip.com posted April 6. Rusty Waltrip notes seven keys to winning at Bristol including Handling, finesse and reflexology. "I spoke of great reflexes and I made a play on words - reflexology - because you have to have great reflexes. You've got to anticipate, and that's part of being ahead of the curve. All great drivers have seen the wrecks, They know that when a car spins it's going to go up the track and come back down. It's going to hang in the wall, spin off of Turn 2, hit the inside wall and bounce back in the race track. The great ones at Bristol know what's going to happen. That's part of reflexology and anticipation."
We always like to think that each individual reflexologist and every pair of hands working at reflexology makes a difference. When you hear the stories of Philadelphia reflexologist Sister Sheila McGinnis and Piqua, Ohio reflexologist Ruth Hahn, however, you realize how large the contribution of an individual can be.
Ruth's son was an unruly and physically abusive child when she began her search for ways to help him. An odyssey of thirty years, started with a program founded in the basement of a church with concerned parent Gloria Hufford. From there the two went on to found the Rehabilitation Center for Neurological Development (RCND), a non-profit housed in a wing of the Orr Felt Company belonging to Piqua benefactor Mr. Nicholas. For the full story click here. Ruth has now retired and Gloria died in a car accident in 1997 but their work continues. In 2004, $1.5 million was raised to create the specially designed Hahn-Hufford Center of Hope housing the RCND ("serving infants, children and adults with brain injury"), the Nicholas School ("a special needs school for students in grades K-8" and approved by the state of Ohio), The Brain Wellness Center (neurofeedback training for improved behavior and learning) and the Aquatic Therapy & Wellness Center (therapeutic pool and wellness center offering reflexology and massage). (www.rcnd.org, H-H Center of Hope, 1306 Garbry Road Piqua, OH 45356, 937-773-7630)
Sister Sheila McGinnis and Sister Mary Em McGlone are Medical Mission sisters, nuns who see the healing arts as ministry. "For them the laying on of hands is both nourishing for the soul and therapeutic for the body, a perfect complement to Western medicine. Both "are nurse-midwives who spent formative yeas working in hospitals overseas - McGlocne in Uganda in the 1960's, just before Idi Amin cane to power, and McGinnis in South Vietnam in the '60's and 70's until just before Saigon fell to the communists. McGlone founded the Center for Human Integration at the Medical Mission sisters' North American headquarters in Philadelphia some twenty-five years ago. (www.ctrforhumanintegration.org) McGinnis practices and teaches reflexology at the Center. (Smith, Virginia A., "Nuns find that 'laying on' of hands has a new meaning," Knight Ridder Newspapers, www.missoulian.com/specials/faith/faith13.php)
...The article was about the American textile industry in China but there, in the middle of the story was the statement: " 'Nothing, absolutely nothing, went right (when the Standard Textile Co. of Cincinnati opened its factory in China),'" says (Standards chief executive) Mr. Heiman while getting a foot rub at a local spa (in Linyi, a small city between Beijing and Shanghai)." (Fong, Mei, "Woven in China," The Wall Street Journal, April 11, 2005, p. B1)
...At least one standard tour of Beijing includes an hour-long foot massage for $20. The foot sessions are popular with Korean and Japanese tourists. (www.jademagazine.com/40bf_morneau.html)
The Kunz and Kunz book, Reflexology Health at your fingertips has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide within two years. The title is now published in eleven language (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Danish, Portuguese, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, and Korean with Arabic rights pending).
The Complete Guide to Foot Reflexology celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with a soon-to-be-published third edition containing color photos as well as research, insurance and other new information. 500,000 copies of the book have been sold worldwide with publication in English, Dutch, German, and a new Japanese edition.
Kunz and Kunz Web sites received a record 50,000 visitors on Thursday, March 17 and 2.2 million hits so far this year.