Facial Reflexology as Autism Treatment

Facial reflexology is a new type of reflexology in the United States and shows therapy benefits for some children with autism. Traditionally, reflexology has been associated with massage and/or pressure on the feet to help heal other parts of the body and improve overall health. According to the American Reflexology Certification Board, reflexology "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." Lone Sorensen, who runs a reflexology institute in Barcelona, Spain, has used the same principles on the face. She has brought facial reflexology techniques to the U.S. and has currently trained a number of reflexologists in North Carolina. Sorensen says that facial reflexology is a combination of "traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), South American Zone Therapy and Vietnamese face maps with the modern science of neurology." A practicioner, Cyndi Hill, has a center in North Carolina called Shalom Regel Reflexology. Hill explains that facial reflexology was developed mostly for children and when she applies massage pressure to certain parts of the face, it may help neurological functions in children.

FULL ARTICLE: Facial Reflexology Comes to Salisbury