Reflexology: the benefits of foot massage

 

Here is a fascinating guest blog entry from a fellow novelist, Ruth Wong. After you enjoy the article, you will find her impressive biography. 

 Being trained in the Western science of biochemistry, I used to object to anything related to Chinese medicine and alternative healing, until we took a trip to Shanghai that changed my belief.

During a visit to our family in Hong Kong, we decided to detour to Mainland China. Back then, China just opened up to tourists. While our tour group went to Shanghai, one of my teeth gave me trouble. The pain became more intolerable by the minute. To our surprise, we noticed a sign in the hotel showing that a doctor specializing in reflexology resided there.

“I’m going to give it a try,” I muttered to my husband, my face contorted with agony. “It can’t get any worse anyway.”

I entered the doctor’s office and caught sight of a middle-aged woman sitting alone.

She gave me a questioning glance but didn’t say a word.

“I-I—” I grimaced with wry amusement, feeling foolish.

“Yes?” Her tone was gentle.

I swallowed. “I’m here for my toothache.”

She gestured for me to take a seat. “Please remove your shoes and socks.”

I did as she commanded. She wiped my right foot thoroughly with alcohol and pushed along the length of my sole. Pausing at one spot, she raised her head. “You had bronchitis recently?”

My jaw almost dropped to the floor. How did she know?

She moved to my other foot. After a moment, she looked at me again. “You have a diabetic family background.”

I couldn’t control my curiosity anymore. “You can tell from touching my feet?”

“Yes, I can.” She uttered one simple response and went back to work. “Which of your teeth gives you trouble?”

I opened my mouth and pointed to the culprit.

She nodded. “Be prepared. I’ll press hard on one of your toes. It’ll hurt like crazy, but your toothache will subside.”

I wasn’t fully convinced. Then she pushed down on the second toe of my right foot, and I almost jumped up from the chair.

“How does your tooth feel?” She calmly asked.

Tears gathered behind my eyelids. I didn’t know if it was because of the distractive pain on my toe or else, my toothache was gone. “It works.”

“Good. But the pain will be back. Next time when it starts, just massage this point.” She showed me the exact spot on my toe. “By the way, you can delay the onset of diabetes by pressing here.” She pointed to a small area on my sole. 

I walked out of her office with bewilderment in my heart. Entering our hotel room, I couldn’t help blurting out, “Ken, you wouldn’t believe what I’ve experienced.”

After I told him the story, he shook his head. “I don’t believe it. It sounds like magic.”

I crossed my arms. “Why don’t you go check it out yourself?”

“But I’m not sick.” He scratched his head. “Did you say it only cost you twenty Chinese yuan? It’s not even five US dollars. Well, I’ll go.”

Thirty minutes later, Ken returned with a disbelieving expression on his face. “She touched my feet and told me I had appendicitis before. She also inquired why I wanted to see her since my health is excellent.”

Astonishing, isn’t it?

Since then, I’ve been massaging my feet every morning. My mother had her diabetic onset in her forties. I passed that age long ago and still haven’t developed diabetes. Maybe foot massage does delay the onset of diabetes.

Do a Google search, and you’ll find ~ 485,000,000 results on this subject. You can easily purchase a simple foot massage tool for a few bucks. Some books give elaborate illustrations about where to massage, etc. I found the simplest way is to massage your whole foot, bottom, top, and toes. If you make it too complicated, you’ll give it up sooner or later. Keep it simple and make it into a habit.

Author Bio: Ruth Wuwong obtained a master’s degree in Christian Studies from Logos Theological Seminary, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Ohio State University, and an M.B.A. in finance and management from the University of Illinois. She has published 120+ scientific books and papers. Although she is a late comer into creative writing, so far, she has completed three books. She published Love at the Garden Tomb in 2022 and plans to publish two more books, Blazing China (a family saga about the cultural revolution in China) and Confessions of a Pastor’s Wife, a paraquel to Love at the Garden Tomb.