REFLEXOLOGY RESEARCH FOR CHILDREN’S CONDITIONS

1. REFLEXOLOGY RESEARCH INTO ENURESIS NOCTURNAL/BEDWETTING 1 & 2
   By Krogsgaard, Dorte; Poulsen, Edith; Kyhl, Torben; Bo Lund, Jens; and, Eriksen, Leila.

   Twenty children, aged 5 - 10 years, who had a minimum of 3 nighttime bed wettings per week were treated with foot reflexology alone. Thirty-minute treatments were administered twice weekly for four weeks (with a minimum of 2 days between treatments), followed by weekly treatments for seven weeks. Parents filled out an observation questionnaire during treatment and for one month following treatment. Of the twenty children, eighteen completed treatment. A decrease in the nighttime amount of urine was reported by 43.8% of the parents, and 23.5% moved from the category of "soaking wet" to "a little wet". Upon conclusion of treatment, one boy was completely dry. For one month after the conclusion of treatment, the effects were maintained, and one boy and one girl were completely dry, also one boy was almost dry. Some parents reported a change in their child's sleep pattern: - now the child would awaken upon urination, which they previously had not done.

    

2. CLINICAL ANALYSIS OF FOOT REFLEXO MASSAGE FOR THE TREATMENT OF 45 CASES WITH INFANTILE BRONCHIAL ASTHMA
   By Duanmu Hui-xian. Health Centre for Women and Children, Haimen, Jiangsu Province.

   Forty-five patients in the outpatient clinic, aged 5 months to 7 years (mean age = 3.8 years), with 25 boys and 20 girls. The range of the course of the disease bronchial asthma was 3 to 63 months. Daily 40 - 50 minute reflexology sessions were administered. The length of the therapeutic course ranged from 2 to 12 weeks. When the therapeutic course was complete, the clinical symptoms of all 45 patients disappeared, the rate of the clinical cure being 100%. It is pointed out that in such young children, if they receive drugs, toxic reactions will occur as their visceral states are not fully developed; and, that generally infants do not like injection and forceful administration of drugs, but, do accept foot reflexology.

  3. EFFECT OF REFLEXOLOGY ON INFANTILE COLIC

By Sibel Ecke, Rabia Genc.

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of reflexology on infantile colic.  A total of 64 babies with colic were included in this study (n = 31: study group; n = 33: control group). Following a pediatrician's diagnosis, two groups (study and control) were created. Sociodemographic data (including mother's age, educational status, and smoking habits of parents) and medical history of the baby (including gender, birth weight, mode of delivery, time of the onset breastfeeding after birth, and nutrition style) were collected. The Infant Colic Scale (ICS) was used to measure the colic severity in the infants. Reflexology was applied to the study group by the researcher and their mother 2 days a week for 3 weeks. The babies in the control group did not receive reflexology. Assessments were performed before and after the intervention in both groups.

Results: The groups were similar regarding the sociodemographic background and medical history. While there was no difference between the groups in ICS scores before application of reflexology (p > 0.05), the mean ICS score of the study group was significantly lower than that of the control group at the end of the intervention (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Reflexology application for babies suffering from infantile colic may be a promising method to alleviate colic severity.

4. A PILOT STUDY OF PARENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF REFLEXOLOGY TREATMENT FOR INFANTS WITH COLIC IN FINLAND.

By Leena Hannula, Pauli Puukka, Marjut Asunmaa, Markku Mäkijärvi.

Background: Many infants under 4 months suffer from infantile colic. Infants with colic cry a lot, appear to be in pain, and it is difficult to soothe them. Colic is a painful condition for the infant and very stressful to parents. Parents in Finland get advice to try reflexology treatment for their infant, but there are no studies in Finland to support this advice.

Aim: The aim of the pilot study was to treat infants with reflexology and find out parents' experiences of the effects of the treatment on colic symptoms and parental stress.

Method: A total of 33 parents of 35 infants diagnosed with colic participated in the pilot study. Three certified reflexologists with a health care education background and extensive experience in infant reflexology were trained to give the reflexology treatment in a standardized manner. They treated each infant 3-4 times. The whole body reflexology treatment session consisted of gentle pressure treatment of soles and feet, hands, head, face, ears, back, neck, and whole stomach area. One treatment session lasted about 20-30 minutes, and treatments were delivered within 8-12 days. The data were collected from the parents with semi-structured questionnaires.

Results: The series of treatments helped reduce the suffering of all the babies with infant colic. The colic symptoms disappeared on 43% of infants and decreased on the remaining 57%. The parents reported having pleasant experiences with the treatment, regardless of whether the colic symptoms disappeared or continued. Parents stated that the treatment reduced the most typical colic symptoms; infants' body tension, colic crying and restless movements, poor sleep quality, and irregular bowel movements.

Conclusions: Reflexology treatment seems to be a safe and effective way to treat infants with colic when conducted by a health care professional with reflexology training and experience.

5. EVALUATION OF EFFICACY AND FEASIBILITY OF FOOT REFLEXOLOGY IN CHILDREN EXPERIENCING CHRONIC OR PERSISTENT PAIN.

By Amandine Bertrand, Claire-Emmanuelle Mauger-Vauglin, Sophie Martin, Florence Goy, Chantal Delafosse, Perrine Marec-Berard.

Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) are increasingly used in the therapeutic arsenal, particularly for pain management. Foot reflexology (FR) is still poorly evaluated, specifically in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of FR sessions in children experiencing chronic or persistent pain.

We conducted a prospective study in two pediatric centers from January 2011 to January 2014. Sessions of FR were offered to children regardless of their age, experiencing persistent pain (>72h) or chronic pain (>3 months). A form was completed by the patient before and after each FR session. The effectiveness of the session was evaluated using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for both pain and anxiety.

Results: One hundred and twenty-two patients suffering from persistent pain were included. We observed a significant decrease of mean VAS pain scores after each session (respectively P<0.001, P<0.001, and P=0.015) and of mean VAS anxiety scores (P<0.001) for all sessions). Seventy patients suffering from chronic pain were included. The decrease in VAS pain scores was statistically significant after each reflexology session for children suffering from headache and musculoskeletal pain (P<0.001). Anxiety was significantly lower after each session (P<0.001).

Conclusion: In 192 pediatric patients, Foot Reflexology significantly reduces pain and anxiety in children suffering from persistent or chronic pain. This CAM could have a place in pain management in children but needs to be evaluated in larger cohorts.