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.

4. Hand and foot massage should usually be applied sym-metrically at acupoints on both sides of the body, so patients can easily remember the sequence for self-application. Self-massage may be applied at specific acupoints for different diseases according to the individual, the time, and the place. Several unsymmetrical acupoints can also be easily remembered and used in clinical application.

5. After the nature and function of the different acupoints and reflecting areas are learned and retained by the practitioner, he will be able to reasonably select and combine them for clinical use. Diagnosis using the hand and foot is also useful for pre-venting disease.

6. Herbal bath, herbal moxibustion, and the external application of herbal preparations also can be used in combination before, during, or after hand and foot massage to improve its therapeutic effect.