Читать книгу Reflexology: The Definitive Practitioner's Manual: Recommended by the International Therapy Examination Council for Students and Practitoners - Beryl Crane - Страница 22

In the very simplest of reflexes a sensory neurone on the skin’s surface, when palpated or pressed, will react by sending a signal along the nerve fibre belonging to it; this signal will pass to the central nervous system (see here); once at its terminal end it will connect with another nerve cell, which in turn is also stimulated. The action within this second cell is enough to cause a muscle to contract or to even increase the secretory function of a gland (figure 2.2).

A nerve signal is an electrical impulse produced by chemical reactions on the surface of the cell body of a neurone (a nerve cell). Nerve signals traverse the whole nervous system, both electrically and chemically. Electric signals or impulses are carried from one end of a nerve cell to the other end. However, to cross the gap (the synapse) between nerve cells, chemicals called neurotransmitters are released from the end of the cell in response to the electrical impulse. These chemicals move across the synapse and bind on to the receptor sites of the adjacent cells. This sets off another electrical impulse in the next neurone, and so on.

Figure 2.2 Transmission of nerve impulses

Afferent (sensory) fibres transmit impulses to the centre from the skin, muscles, bones and joints. (However, not all afferent action is consciously perceived.) Efferent (motor) neurons innervate muscle fibres, conveying messages from the brain or spinal cord to muscles, glands or other effector organs (figure 2.3).

When pain or another stimulus is detected the electrical signals are sent to the spinal cord and often ascend to the higher centres within the brain (figure 2.3). The areas in the brain then correlate the information, sending the information by way of the midbrain (a small portion of the brainstem) to the hindbrain, or medulla oblongata (see figure 2.23). These brain areas are involved in the co-ordination of sensory and motor impulses within the body. The returning neural impulse travels back down a motor nerve pathway to where the pain communication came from, when it may stimulate release of endorphins – natural opiates that are often referred to as ‘mood enhancers’. This may be why people often report a wonderful sense of well-being after a reflexology treatment. Stimulation of these touch or tactile corpuscles triggers a motor reaction. Consideration of an automatic reaction (such as the reaction when you receive a burn) shows how quickly the nervous system can react to stimuli.

Figure 2.3 A section through the spinal cord, to show sensory and motor pathways

Normally when resting there is a relatively low level of electrical activity in the brain because it acts as a switchboard, receiving impulses from the many sensory organs of the body and correlating these various stimuli and interpreting them accordingly, sending off motor signals to supply a muscle or a gland into stimulation or relaxation, and so on (see figure 2.2). Reflexology may act as a stimulant, by increasing the rate of activity in an organ or system, or it may act as an energizer giving the person more vitality and zest. It is also evident after treatment that it has a calming influence, acting as a relaxant to such a degree that it enables the person to unwind and be totally rested and with muscles that are less stiff or tight.

Pain is a sensation we get when our sensory nerves are irritated or inflamed and injured. We all relieve our pain in a similar way when we rub the affected part or area that is hurting. This stimulates the firing of nerve fibres that inhibit the pain signal. This phenomenon was observed by Dr William Fitzgerald prior to his developing the ‘zone concept’. However, in reflexology the pressure treatment helps to relieve disorders themselves as well as just relieving pain. Because during treatment the patient is able to relax, the pain of a stiff neck or low back pain, or even abdominal discomfort, is able to just ebb away during the treatment. The medical profession often say any benefit is due to the placebo (or ‘expectation’) effect because the client has faith in the powers of the therapist or therapy; if that is so then that is in itself a marvellous phenomenon. However, I feel that its mechanism is far more profound than that. I have treated many sceptics who on the first visit state something like, ‘I am sure you will not be able to help me, but I have tried everything else, so I thought it would not hurt me if I came’, or ‘I only came because my wife suggested it, but I cannot see how fiddling with my hands, feet or ears is going to help my stiff knee’. These are just two examples of typical comments one may get from a sceptical person in the first instance. But even so if a good response is obtained such clients will virtually sing it from the rooftops. My most ardent supporter has recommended more patients to me than any other person to date, but at his first session he was almost disdainfully sceptical, and told me he had only attended at the request of his wife. Reflexology is now part of the lives of many such patients because they see it as a preventative against recurrence of ill-health.