Hand-le with care
By Darcie Miller, Light in Balance
Have you ever thought about your hands as an extension of your heart? In last month’s article, I talked about all the amazing tasks your hands perform and how the touch of your hands can speak volumes.
Your hands have taken many abuses and will continue to take even more abuse; not because you are deliberately trying to hurt them but from simply using and overusing them. It is inevitable that at some point you will experience pain and stiffness in your hands—and your hands do not have to be aged to experience pain and stiffness.
Wearing gloves to protect them while performing specific tasks can help, as well as applying lotion or balm to help soothe dry and chapped skin.
Reflexology is a natural and holistic modality that which can be performed on your feet, hands or ears.
Hand reflexology may be useful as a way to help manage pain from arthritis or osteoarthritis. It can help boost circulation from overuse or as the result of an injury, as well as long-term complaints such as Raynaud’s syndrome. Other benefits may also include improved flexibility in those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and from chronic pain, which is often associated with carpal tunnel syndrome.
In addition to helping with pain and discomfort in your hands, hand reflexology can also be beneficial in managing any associated symptoms you may be experiencing from irritable bowel syndrome, stress, headaches, tension, anxiety, neck and shoulder pain, and breathing problems.
Just like your feet, your hands contain a reflexive map of all of your body’s systems—circulatory, endocrine, nervous, skeletal, muscular, reproductive and urinary. A trained and certified reflexologist will work with you, and together you will develop a session strategy to help you achieve your goals. Reflexology is not a replacement for medical care, but it is a modality which can complement treatment you may already be receiving from your health-care provider.
Whether receiving hand, foot or ear reflexology, or any combination of the three, it is an excellent source of self-care. You only get one body, and it is important to take care of you.
And at the risk of repetition, I must repeat the importance of wearing the proper gloves for the task to protect your hands. Remember, there are 27 bones, 27 joints, 34 muscles and over 100 ligaments and tendons in each hand. Your hands will perform many tasks and acts of love over your lifetime. Please, take care of them.