Everything You Need to Know About Reflexology – World Reflexology Week 2025
World reflexology week occurs annually during the last full week of September. Established in 1999, one of the main objectives is to promote awareness about reflexology and its many benefits.
If you’ve ever been curious about reflexology, World Reflexology Week 2025 is the perfecr time to discover more – or even to schedule an appointment and experience this amazing treatment for yourself.
What is Reflexology?
Reflexology is one of the CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) therapies.
Whilst foot reflexology is the most well known, reflexology can be carried out on your feet, hands, ears, and face.
It is believed that all of your body’s systems and organs are reflected in one of these smaller, peripheral areas. Your reflexologist will apply gentle pressure to specific points, and, stimulating these points can help bring about balance and homeostasis, promote relaxation, improve well-being, and support your body’s natural healing processes.
Reflexology is regularly used as a complementary therapy alongside traditional medical treatments.
Is Reflexology Suitable for me?
Imagine a new-born baby and how, naturally, we stroke their feet and toes. Or consider end of life care where the simple acts of hand-holding and stroking can be deeply reassuring and comforting to the receiver.
With very few exceptions, reflexology is considered to be safe for people of all ages, from the very young to the elderly.
Does Reflexology Work?
There are many articles suggesting that reflexology can be effective in reducing stress, anxiety, and pain, improving mood, supporting healing, and bringing balance to mind, body, and soul.
However, others imply there is insuficient evidence to support reflexology as a treatment for specific medical conditions.
A quick internet search will help you discover more about sides of the discussion should you wish to.
What’s important to remember is that reflexologists do not diagnose, cure, or prescribe.
However, I think we are all aware of the positive and powerful the benefits that touch can bring. During a session, most clients find themselves relaxing deeply while feel-good hormones are released into the body.
The best way to discover if reflexology works for you is simple – give it a try!
What Conditions Can Reflexology Help?
Many people turn to reflexology to support their health and well-being.
Reflexology is believed to help with many conditions – here are just a few of the ways reflexology has helped my clients.
- Easing Aches & Pains – from headaches and backache to stiffness from arthritis.
- Calming Stress & Worries – reflexology is deeply relaxing and soothing.
- Better Sleep – it may improve sleep quality and ease insomnia.
- Supporting Digestion – can help with bloating, sluggish digestion, or constipation.
- Boosting Circulation – encouraging healthy blood flow and oxygenation.
- Balancing Hormones – supporting PMS and other hormonal changes.
- Breathing More Easily – some people with asthma or allergies find it helps.
What Happens in a Treatment?
What Happens in a Treatment?
When you arrive at Lorraine’s Treatment Room, we’ll first talk through how you’re feeling and what you’d like from your session. Then you will be settled comfortably on the couch, ready for your treatment to begin.
I offer foot reflexology and facial reflexology, both of which are carried out with you relaxing on the treatment couch.
- Foot Reflexology: After your feet are cleansed, a gentle welcoming massage is carried out before moving onto the reflexology treatment.
- Facial Reflexology: After an optional cleanse, a soothing, introductory massage prepares you for the facial reflexology/zone therapy session.
You can also combine both treatments for a blissful hour of relaxation.
PLUS! In celebration of World Reflexology Week, I’ve created a unique, limited-edition facial reflexology experience – you can read more about that here.
How Will I Feel After a Treatment?
Many clients step off the couch feeling tranquil, deeply relaxed, refreshed, and even energised – often stating they feel lighter and brighter. Others notice they sleep better, feel less pain, or have improvements in digestion and urinary function.
Reflexology is believed to give you what you most need at that moment – what your body needs, it will invariably take from your treatment.
The best aftercare advice – alongside drinking water, avoiding stimulants, and steering clear of heavy meals – is simply to listen to your own body. If you feel tired, rest. If you feel energised, embrace that feeling and run with it!
Where and When Did Reflexology Orignate?
No blog on reflexology would be complete with a few words about the history of reflexology.
Reflexology in some form is thought to have been practised since around 2500 BC. If you’ve ever visited Egypt, you may have seen hieroglyphics depicting foot massage on pyramids and temples. Around the same time, China was incorporating foot massage and pressure points as part of their Meridian theory and India included pressure points within their traditional healing systems.
In the early 1900s, Dr. William Fitzgerald introduced Zone Therapy to the Western world, showing how areas on the hands and feet correspond to specific organs and body parts.
In the 1930s, Eunice Ingham further refined his work, creating detailed maps of the hands and feet and developing reflexology as we know it today. She is often credited as the pioneer of modern reflexology.
