Foot Reflexology Measured by Colour Doppler Sonography

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Summary
Changes of Renal Blood Flow during Organ-Associated Foot Reflexology Measured by Colour Doppler Sonography
Using colour Doppler sonography blood flow changes of the right kidney during foot reflexology were determined in a placebo-
controlled, double-blind, randomised study. 32 healthy young adults (17 women, 15 men) were randomly assigned
to the verum or placebo group. The verum group received foot reflexology at zones corresponding to the right kidney,
the placebo group was treated on other foot zones. Before, during and after foot reflexology the blood flow of three vessels
of the right kidney was measured using colour Doppler sonography. Systolic peak velocity and end diastolic peak velocity
were measured in cm/s, and the resistive index, a parameter of the vascular resistance, was calculated. The resistive
index in the verum group showed a highly significant decrease (p £ 0.001) during and an increase (p = 0.001) after foot
reflexology. There was no difference between men and women and no difference between smokers and non-smokers.
Verum and placebo group significantly differed concerning alterations of the resistive index both between the measuring
points before versus during foot reflexology (p = 0.002) and those during versus after foot reflexology (p = 0.031). The significant
decrease of the resistive index during foot reflexology in the verum group indicates a decrease of flow resistance
in renal vessels and an increase of renal blood flow. These findings support the hypothesis that organ-associated foot reflexology
is effective in changing renal blood flow during therapy.
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Manfred Herold,