Double Thumbing Advanced Reflexology Technique

Just released title, Double Thumb Walking, Advanced Reflexology Technique by Barbara and Kevin Kunz. Available for preorder today. 

“I use this technique all the time because the advantage of very full coverage of the foot. The techniques in this book help you cover both the top and bottom of the foot simultaneously. “

Kevin Kunz 

Buy now!!!

Here’s a structured argument exploring whether locking of the feet is associated with disorders, and how it may affect the immune system and inflammation:

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Argument: The Impact of Locked Feet on Health, Immunity, and Inflammation

1. Many Disorders Involve or Result in Foot Locking

Yes, many musculoskeletal and neurological disorders are accompanied by foot locking or rigidity, including:

   •   Plantar fasciitis: Tight fascia leads to restricted foot mobility.

   •   Parkinson’s disease: Muscle rigidity can cause the foot to “freeze” or lock, particularly when initiating movement.

   •   Stroke: Spasticity or hemiparesis may cause involuntary foot contraction.

   •   Cerebral palsy: Tonic contraction and dystonia often affect the feet.

   •   Arthritis: Joint inflammation and stiffness limit the dynamic movement of foot structures.

   •   Peripheral neuropathy: Altered proprioception can cause compensatory foot stiffening.

These conditions disrupt the normal foot function and mobility patterns—specifically, what might be referred to as the “lock-unlock sequence” of gait.

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2. The Lock-Unlock Sequence of Gait is Crucial to Whole-Body Health

The normal biomechanical gait involves:

   •   Heel strike (lock)

   •   Mid-stance (unlock)

   •   Toe-off (lock)

   •   Swing phase (unlock)

This sequence facilitates:

   •   Shock absorption

   •   Venous return (through the foot pump)

   •   Proprioceptive feedback to the brain

   •   Dynamic fascia movement and lymphatic drainage

If this dynamic foot function is disrupted, such as through a locked foot that fails to alternate between stability and mobility, systemic consequences may follow.

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3. Locked Feet May Negatively Impact the Immune System

The immune system is intricately connected to:

   •   Lymphatic flow: which relies heavily on muscular contractions and fascial gliding, especially in the feet and calves, to move immune cells.

   •   Stress modulation: Reflexology and somatosensory input from the feet can influence autonomic balance, potentially modulating inflammatory pathways.

When the foot is “locked”:

   •   Lymphatic stagnation may occur, leading to reduced immune surveillance.

   •   There is diminished proprioceptive signaling, potentially impacting vagal tone, which plays a key role in inflammatory regulation via the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.

   •   It can promote a pro-inflammatory state, especially when coupled with chronic stress, poor circulation, and sedentary behavior.

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4. Locked Foot Contributes to Inflammation

Evidence suggests that mechanical stress and immobility lead to:

   •   Increased pro-inflammatory cytokines in local tissues.

   •   Fascial densification, which perpetuates stiffness and restricts fluid exchange.

   •   Microvascular impairment, which reduces oxygen and nutrient delivery, exacerbating chronic inflammation.

In reflexology, restricted foot zones often correspond with stress cues, indicating areas of systemic or local dysfunction—often related to inflammation or stagnation.

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Conclusion

A locked foot is not just a mechanical problem—it is a neuroimmune issue. The failure to move through the lock-unlock sequence of gait may disrupt:

   •   Immune function (via lymph and vagus-mediated immune control),

   •   Inflammatory balance (via stagnation and mechanical stress), and

   •   Systemic signaling pathways important for health.

Restoring normal foot motion through techniques like reflexology, fascia release, and proprioceptive training, and it may help reactivate the dynamic immune-supportive functions of the feet.

Real,World Consequences of Reflexology Research

Real,World Consequences of Reflexology Research. 

Reflexology research has the power to inform about possibilities for not only the medical community but also reflexologists. Research provides the power of possibilities about what reflexology can do. 

The prognosis for 80 year old Dawn was not good on that Wednesday. The stroke she had experienced was described as “massive” by the consultant following assessment of a scan of her brain showing the injured area. She was not expected to survive the next 24 hours. If she did it was predicted she would be paralyzed on the left half of her body with the potential loss of sight and hearing abilities. One option was making Dawn “comfortable in a side room and giving her morphine."

It’s some sixty days later and Dawn walks out of a rehabilitation facility for outside visits and will return home in the weeks to come. There are some lingering effects of her stroke but the doctor says it should be no problem for her to do things like walk up stairs.

The happy ending to Dawn’s story started with her daughter Gayle’s decision to hold her mother’s hand to comfort her while waiting assessment in the UK hospital’s A & E (Accident and Emergency) stroke unit. It then occurred to Gayle to apply reflexology while holding her hand. Using knowledge gained as a reflexology student and encouraged by reported results of fMRI research (Neural Pathways of Applied Reflexology) with stroke patients, she was determined to use reflexology to help her mother.

Progress was evaluated day by day. On Thursday the consultant saw no progress discounting as spasming Gayle’s reports of her mother moving in response to reflexology application. He decided to extend care another day swayed by, as Gayle tells it, I think he felt sorry for us. She and her two sisters took turns staying by their mother’s bed around the clock. On Friday, perhaps swayed by blood pressure readings, he again made the decision to extend care. 

Next came what Gayle describes as their lucky break, a doctor’s strike started Friday evening. She says, "So there were a lack of doctors anyway to deal with anything, so you didn't have to. So, thank God, we realized, like, you know, just to keep this going, keep this going.

It was just after midnight early that Saturday morningwith Gayle, taking a break and with her sister Hayley at their mother’s bedside. Dawn turned and said, Hi, Hay. Dawn was awake. She had recognized her daughter Hayley’s voice.

On Monday, the family could report to the consultant, Dawn had spoken. Hospital care could continue. Gayle’s reflexology work continued. A stay at a rehabilitation facility followed with the expectation that Dawn will return to her life.

Note: While this is a wonderful story it isn’t a scientific fact. It is considered anecdotal evidence.  To make a factual case for using reflexology as a tool for stroke recovery we need the data to support this effort. 

Join the Effort to Finish the fMRI Research Project

What are the study’s scientists saying about the progress of the foot reflexology and fMRI research project, Neural Pathways of Applied Reflexology? 

It’s the best possible news. The scientists are so enthusiastic about preliminary results they are mapping a path forward to demonstrate that reflexology can be a science. 

What can you do to help? Help us raise the $10,000 needed to finish analysis of the brain scans acquired during the research. Donate here to the non-profit UNM Fund - Neural Pathways of Applied Reflexology https://www.unmfund.org/fund/npar-fund/

Finishing analysis will lead to an article published in a scientific journal. Such proof of results facilitates the next step, application for grant money from the National Institute of Health for another study. Finally, a study including a large number of subjects will help,establish reflexology as a science.

This is exciting!!!

Our lead investigator, Dr. Stefan Posse, presented the finding from our brain scanning project to 5000 research scientists in Singapore today. It involved applying reflexology while in realtime the participants were being scanned with a functional MRI unit. If you are interested in the results come join us on May 14th when  Barbara and myself talk about the results. Please share this with your friends.

 

Baby Brains and Foot Reflexology

 

Baby Brains and Foot Reflexology 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away or so the saying goes. But what happens to a young baby who receives foot reflexology almost every day? The answer: enhanced activation in parts of the brain. 

That’s the conclusion of researchers who followed an infant’s progress with fMRI brain scans in a recently reported case study. While researchers were testing for improvements in hearing for a limited application of reflexology, they found activation in parts of the brain (see below) were enhanced for the infant receiving foot reflexology compared to infants who did not. 

An infant was diagnosed with hearing impairment, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), at three months of age. Chinese researchers used fMRI brain scans to follow the progress of the infant who received 30 minutes of reflexology applied to both big toes, five days a week for 24 weeks. At the conclusion of the study the baby at nine months of age was tested to have normal hearing. 

Such results raise the question: what would happen if foot reflexology was to be applied to the whole baby foot every day? A better start on life for the little one?

“Conclusion: This study demonstrated that foot reflexology benefits infants with SNHL. The activation of auditory areas and hubs of the language network, such as the middle temporal gyrus, thalamus, and frontal cortex, was enhanced by foot reflexology (in contrast to infants in a non-reflexology control group). In contrast, the activation of the occipital cortex was decreased. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report physiological evidence that foot reflexology affects infants with SNHL.” (https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2710677/v1)

New title: Reflexology and Mechanical Ventilation

Why write a book about reflexology research and mechanical ventilation? I couldn’t help myself. The search for information was so fascinating. The results showing what reflexology could do were so dramatic.

It started when we were working with neuroscientist Dr. Stefan Posse of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine preparing for research, finding out what happens as foot reflexology is applied during brain scans, fMRI imaging. Stefan had asked about reflexology research of medical topics. I started looking.

I discovered 75 to 80 studies of reflexology applied to hospital patients from the maternity ward, the cardiac care unit and beyond. It was, however, the height of the Covid pandemic and the sight of patients on mechanical ventilation filled the news and evoked all sorts of emotions from empathy to dread. I zeroed in on the studies I had found about ICU patients on mechanical ventilation following surgery or hospitalized for various causes.

There in the research was a surprise: reflexology got people off ventilators sooner. Amazing. How? Why? 

I kept going. I would discover a lot. How surgery, mechanical ventilation and hospitalization present life-threatening problems. The anxieties faced by patients. The challenges facing critical care nurses. What is important to help patients survive. 

I found out more, more about reflexology itself. All those things we reflexologists know are right and were reaffirmed. Yes, reflex areas do matter. Yes, selecting the right reflex areas does matter. That, yes, dosing, the appropriate amount of reflexology does matter. 

Then there was, why would this be? How and why would reflexology help in such a critical situation? It all went back to: how does reflexology work? There are answers to those questions, fun to explore.

And, finally, it occurred to me: these studies had more to say. More to say about how reflexology provides the opportunity for us to help: help our clients, ourselves and virtually anyone with a health concern.

 

Yes, this is a book about reflexology research of patients supported by mechanical ventilation. But sometimes, when you least expect it, you get more than you could have ever imagined. 

Barbara Kunz

 Get your copy now https://a.co/d/6awLMQZ or https://books2read.com/u/bx6VLl

Reflexology is Weightless Jogging!!!

 We were caught by the headline and heart warming story in 2008: “Premature Baby Survived Because Mother Tickled Her Feet.”

Premature infant Emma weighed 1 pound 3 ounces at birth with an under-developed heart. The first time her breathing stopped nurses sprang into action, tickling her postage-stamp-sized feet. Her breathing started again. Over 8 weeks her mother sat by Emma’s side tickling her feet dozens of times a day. At 15 weeks Emma overcame the problem. At the time of the newspaper report she was a healthy normal one year old. Her mother credits her being alive to tickling her feet.(http://www.infoniac.com/breaking/premature-baby-survived-by-tickling.html)

Now there’s research reporting about why this would be. 

Researchers at UCLA tested the effect of vibrating discs on the feet and hands of premature infants who were having problems of breathing pauses and low oxygen. Their goal: to provide a proprioception vibrating stimulation to prompt a breathing reflex. The vibrating device was turned on for six hours at a time, followed by six hours off, for a total of 24 hours. Vital signs were compared for the on stage versus the off stage. While the device was on low oxygen incidents were reduced by 33% and number of breathing poses were reduced by 40%. Low heart rate episodes were reduced by 65%. Why would this be?

It’s all about the foot’s role in walking, a premise presented by Kunz and Kunz a number of years ago. As Barbara noted over the years, reflexology is weightless jogging.

Noted in one report about the research:

“The technique uses a simple device that tricks babies’ brains into thinking they are running, which prompts them to breathe.”…

“As humans evolved over many thousands of years, our bodies developed a system to help us when we start running and suddenly need more oxygen. Now, using that innate reflex as inspiration, UCLA researchers have developed a noninvasive way to treat potentially harmful breathing problems in babies who were born prematurely. …

““When our feet hit the ground running, we flex muscles and joints that have nerve fibers leading to the brain which signal that the body is running,” he said. “This message is coupled with another set of fibers to parts of the brain that regulate breathing and sends a signal that those parts need to increase breathing. Fortunately, that coupling exists even in extremely young infants.” …

(https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/simple-treatment-common-breathing-problem-premature-infants)

The study:

Kalpashri Kesavan,1,* Paul Frank,2 Daniella M. Cordero,1 Peyman Benharash,3 and Ronald M. Harper “Neuromodulation of Limb Proprioceptive Afferents Decreases Apnea of Prematurity and Accompanying Intermittent Hypoxia and Bradycardia” PLoS One. 2016; 11(6): e0157349. Published online 2016 Jun 15.doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157349, PMCID: PMC4909267PMID: 27304988

Also noted: “The nerve fibers project to the cerebellum and are activated with running or walking. These proprioceptor nerves also help stimulate breathing. Though it may seem surprising that nerves in the feet can trigger breathing, it makes evolutionary sense, Dr. Harper explains.” 

(Harper RM, Kesavan K. Neuromodulatory Support for Breathing and Cardiovascular Action During Development. Front Pediatr. 2021 Sep 30;9:753215. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.753215. PMID: 34660498; PMCID: PMC8514987.)

Making of the Complete Guide to Foot Reflexology

 We’ve now written and had published 23 books. They’re in 24 languages and 56 plus foreign editions. 

Everything begins somewhere and for us it was 1980 and The Complete Guide to Foot Reflexology.

We started with nothing. No money. No experience. All we had was a determination that reflexology would live on with a book. At that time reflexology was a verbal tradition spread by word of mouth, an idea we worried would die if not written down. We started and soon we had more - others who wanted to help. Friends and reflexology clients joined in to create a book. 

Times were different then. A manuscript was hand written on yellow pad then typewritten and edited and corrected then typewritten again and passed on to the operator of a typesetting machine. The typeset material was hand pasted onto paper with as many as 50 piece of typeset on a single page. Book design, illustrations and graphics were created by a single person, first time production department (Barbara). (Kevin was at the office, seeing 40 clients a week.) Books finished we threw them into the trunk of our car and drove 800 miles to a health convention to introduce the book. We sold out.

It’s been a lot of years and we can look back with fondness and appreciation for the help and support. But it was work, all consuming work seven days a week for a year. There have been more books but that first one was an irreplaceable experience - the camaraderie, the sense of accomplishment, the feeling of a mission 

The Complete Guide to Foot Reflexology: 3rd Revision https://a.co/d/5Aa7tRG 

ebook https://a.co/d/64oULfo

 Medical applications of Reflexology:: Findings in Research about Cancer Care https://amzn.eu/d/3J2QpNY

How much reflexology technique application is needed to create a particular result? One of the benefits of research is such “dosing” information. 

The value of such information is seen for cancer patients in research by pioneering researcher Dr. Nancy Stephenson of Eastern North Carolina University. In one of her studies a single session reflexologist administered of thirty minutes was found to be the dosing time to significantly decrease pain and anxiety for  breast and lung cancer patient. In a ground breaking study for partner delivered reflexology, Dr. Stephenson found patients receiving thirty minutes sessions administered three times a week at home by a partner experienced a significant decrease in pain intensity (37%) and anxiety (62%).

Among information detailed in Medical Applications Reflexology: Findings in Research about Cancer Care on page 28 is the protocol followed in Dr. Stephenson’s partner delivered reflexology research.