If you think of reflexology at all, you probably think of feet. Traditional reflexology involves massaging or applying pressure to parts of the feet in an attempt to benefit other parts of the body or one's general health. An alternative therapy, reflexology sometimes doesn't get much respect from the mainstream medical community, but it has many faithful devotees, including plenty of people in Rowan County.

Reflexology, according to the American Reflexology Certification Board, "is a scientific art based on the premise that there are zones and reflex areas in the feet and hands which correspond to all body parts. The physical act of applying specific pressures using thumb, finger and hand techniques result in stress reduction which causes a physiological change in the body."

"Reflexology gently nudges the body towards better functioning by improving lymphatic drainage and venous circulation, stimulation to the nerve pathways, and muscle relaxation." Now, there's a new type of reflexology - new at least for the United States. It's called facial reflexology, and North Carolina is at the national forefront of this new reflexology frontier. Developed by Lone Sorensen, who runs a reflexology institute in Barcelona, Spain, the practice purportedly combines traditional Chinese medicine, South American Zone Therapy and Vietnamese face maps with the modern science of neurology. Sorensen has established reflexology schools in Argentina and Denmark. At the request of the North Carolina Reflexology Association, Sorensen has brought the practice to the United States, recently certifying 22 practitioners, including three in this area. She visited this country in May, September and November for training sessions.

Cyndi Hill is president of the North Carolina Reflexology Association and has been a reflexologist for 22 years. Her reflexology practice is called Shalom Regel Reflexology, which is based in a small building outside her Oak Street home. Hill says she became a believer in reflexology when it helped her overcome her plantar fasciitis. "I could not walk without pain," she said. A friend of her minister - Lovell Smalls - was a reflexologist. "When Lovell laid hands," Hill says, laughing, "You knew you'd been touched. Within a week, she said, her plantar fasciitis was gone. Many people with the painful foot condition deal with it for months. As a result of her experience, Hill began to study reflexology. Now, she's excited to have a new reflexology tool.

The treatment itself - which is non-invasive, as is regular reflexology - is a soothing facial massage, done with rose hip oil. It "steadily releases the tension and balances the central nervous system, helping the body to heal itself," Hill says. Locally, Allison Parks and Toni Wyatt have also been trained in the practice. Hill and Wyatt got together recently, to practice their art on one another. Both women are extremely enthusiastic about what they do. "That's why we get up in the morning," Hill says. "I love my work," Wyatt says. "It's not work, it's fun." Both women were involved in an Extreme Makeover project in Charlotte, and they offered reflexology sessions to the volunteers who were constructing the house. They describe an incident there with a man with who had carpal tunnel syndrome. Before Hill and Wyatt did reflexology on his hands, he was planning to go home to get his brace because his hands were in pain. After being worked on, Hill says, he shouted to others on the build, "Those chicks fixed my hand." The fiancee of Hill's s son McKayne, Danielle Stanley, has also received the benefit of Hill's touch. Stanley believes that facial reflexology has helped her deal with her allergies and migraine headaches. With the sessions, she says, she gets fewer migraines, and she believes the ones she gets are less incapacitating.

Wyatt says that her clients have had a very good response to facial reflexology. "I've got a client with fibromyalgia ... when I work on her, she says, 'Who needs medication? This feels so good.' "Everybody is in awe of how it helps to reduce the pain in their body. They're really surprised, because people don't expect the work that we do to have anything to do with their whole body. Wyatt says some of her own hormonal issues have improved as a result of her sessions with Hill. Hill says that her practice is now about half facial reflexology and half regular foot-based reflexology. She often combines the two, she says. Hill says she has helped clients with conditions as varied as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, lupus, depression and fertility issues. Wyatt has worked with clients with a variety of issues as well, including a woman who has had a stroke. "It helps her to be able to carry on conversations and be more alert with her family," Wyatt says. "She loves it." Hill's goal as a reflexologist, as she describes it, is to find an imbalance and then attempt to correct it, gently. "Your body wants to be well, wants to be efficient," she says. Wyatt agrees. "It's very healing. It helps the body to heal naturally. Wyatt says there's a place and time for medication, but sometimes people don't need to go that route. Relieving stress can be very important she says. "Stress is a killer, and a lot of people don't get that."

Stress reduction is one big reason that Connie Hoffner does reflexology sessions with Hill. Hoffner, a registered nurse and educator at Rowan Regional Medical Center, said she was impressed when she became aware of the studies about the effectiveness of reflexology. Hoffner says she sleeps better now, and that it has helped reduce stress as well as improve some endocrine issues she has had. Janie Hurst, who works with her husband's chiropractic practice, says she loves her facial reflexology sessions. "The first time ... I kept falling asleep," she says. "It's very relaxing." She says reflexology is a great addition to what her husband, Dr. Hugh Hurst, does as a chiropractor. He often refers patients with plantar fasciitis to Cyndi. And in fact, Janie says that her father went to Cyndi with plantar fasciitis. "He was pretty much over it by a couple of sessions," she says. Connie Mesimore finds facial reflexology helps with stress relief and headaches. "It's very relaxing," she says. "I really enjoy it."

Steve Jones, a police officer with the Hefner V.A. Medical Center, had a session with Hill several weeks ago. Jones returned from serving in Iraq in November and had been having problems sleeping and breathing because he lived next to a burn pit for a year when he was in Iraq. He also was having problems bending his neck because of head tension caused by wearing individual body armor in Iraq. His mother-in-law gave him a session with Hill, who did both the regular foot reflexology as well as facial reflexology. "I'm sleeping better at night than I was," he says. It's helped with his breathing, he adds. He says he also got a lot of relief from the tension he was carrying in his upper body. He couldn't believe, he says, that simply by working on his feet, Hill could discern that he'd had a shoulder injury. He's definitely planning to return for another session, he says.

Facial reflexology was developed primarily for children, says Hill, who adds that there are many applications. It can help with facial paralysis and neuralgia, for example, she says. For those with neurological problems, applying pressure to particular points on the face can help establish a more appropriate neurological pattern.
Facial reflexology has shown great promise in helping children with autism, including Asperger's Syndrome, and sensory integration disorder, Hill says. She describes a case in Japan, where a child with many of the characteristics of autism - little facial expression, angry outbursts, lack of eye contact, very little verbal communication - was helped dramatically by facial reflexology. Hill says that on the boy's 16th session a helicopter flew overhead and this little boy - who who had very limited communication skills - told his therapist, "That's a Japanese self defense helicopter. Do you want to see it?" Hill acknowledges that the idea of reflexology sounds kind of unbelievable. "It sounds hokey as all get out, I realize that," she says. She emphasizes that reflexology is not a replacement for medical treatment and makes no claims to cure. "We don't diagnose, we don't adjust medications," she said. "People turn to me when they're sick and tired of being sick and tired," she says. "They turn to me when there's nothing more to be done and don't want to take drugs."

Allison Parks has been a massage therapist since 2003 and is now doing facial reflexology. She works with a lot of women who are pregnant, she says. She's also had great success working with clients who have multiple sclerosis. MS patients often see improvement particularly with balance issues, she says. She would like people to learn more about the practice so they can be aware of what it can do for them. "People are leery," she said. "They don't understand it." Facial reflexology is a lot more than what it sounds like, she says. "It's not just coming in and getting your face rubbed."

source:
Facial reflexology comes to Salisbury
Sunday, December 27, 2009
By Katie Scarvey
kscarvey@salisburypost.com