Why do reflexologists discuss lifestyle habits and take a medical history?
Why all the questions?
Reflexology is a form of holistic medicine. The term 'holistic' is derived from the Greek word for 'whole', and as such involves treating the complete being, incorporating body, mind and spirit. We look at the body as a whole entity rather than focusing on its individual parts. That doesn’t mean reflexologists are not taught conventional medical science. Quite the opposite: we are taught anatomy, physiology & pathology. But -in common with most forms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)- we want to get to the root cause of an issue as opposed to looking at just the symptoms. To help shift the problem for good rather than temporarily or in a way that damages other parts of the being. So this means we need to ask lots of questions to build the full picture of the person.
Where do the questions lead us?
I find this fascinating. It’s like treating our body as a huge game of dominos by joining the dots. As most of us on this side of the globe have followed a conventional route with western medicine lots of areas don’t cross over and we would perhaps be referred to say an ear, nose and throat specialist from our doctor. They might not see the connection with something that is in fact a problem stemming from our gut. Which is such a shame and many sufferers draw a blank with their diagnosis. If we can list out all the person’s problems together, we can start to make links within and between some of the overall systems of the body. Also adding in an understanding of what causes stress & discussing any emotional issues. We can start to see where issues originate from if it’s all discussed together. And these issues really can stem from emotional problems not just physical ones.
Some questions we ask & why
Diet is a huge part of our health & healing and without a nutritious, varied diet it can be hard to . So we may ask how many portions of all the food groups our client consumes in a day. Take dairy as one example. If we have more portions of dairy than the average person, it may contribute to skin conditions like acne or rosacea as it is understood that the hormones in animal milk can interfere with our own hormones and we can over produce sebum. Or it may be connected to sinus issues. Building a complete picture allows the reflexologist to choose which systems to concentrate on and what to look out for.
Not all reflexologists go through in this detail, but at The Interior Me I feel it helps the client along their journey even before the reflexology session begins. Discussing lifestyle & medical history together we can sometimes identify small positive changes to build long lasting foundations for better wellbeing. Combined with the reflexology the session becomes even more valuable. It’s rare that people take the time for an overview of all their aliments at the same time and include emotional issues too. Seeing it as a whole can provide real insights and add to the benefits of the treatment.