Hand and foot massage can cure diseases and maintain health through keeping the potency of the .meridians, adjusting Ying qi (nutrients) and Wei qi (defensive energy), promoting the circulation of qi and blood, and balancing Yin and Yang; and it can also enhance body resistance, expel pathogens, control inflammation and pain, relieve stagnation, and promote the repair and regeneration of tissue. Therefore, this massage can be used to treat many medical, traumatological, orthopedic, gynecological, pediatric, dermatological and ENT diseases; and it can also be used for cosmetic purposes. This is a therapy easy to learn and practise for people of any age or occupation; and it can be applied at any time or place, especially useful where medical facilities are poor.
Of course, hand and foot massage is not a miraculous remedy capable of curing all diseases, although it can be used to treat many diseases without toxic side effects. However, it can-not produce apparent effects in the treatment of many acute progressive diseases, severe pain, or hemorrhage.
The characteristics of hand and foot massage can be summarized as follows:
1. As an independent medical branch, hand and foot massage is easy to learn and practise, safe, comfortable, and produces good therapeutic results without harmful side effects. It can be used to treat and prevent diseases and maintain good health.
2. The local application of stimulation can adjust the functions of the entire body, reinforce the body's resistence, cure diseases, and prolong life. For prevention of diseases and maintenance of health, the manipulation must be gentle and applied regularly; and for the treatment of diseases, the manipulation should be heavier and even, and applied at the correct acupoints and reflecting areas. The results obtained by local massage may be even better than those of the general massage.
3. This massage can be used along with other therapies to treat many diseases with good therapeutic results because it produces a generalized effect throughout the entire body. Together with medicinal treatment, patients can apply hand and foot massage themselves for the relief of many chronic illnesses.
