By Rachel Bohanan and Ross Ashcraft
Long before I even really thought about massage therapy as a career, I would kick off my shoes and massage my own aching feet after a long day. I remember that crunchy feeling on the sole of my foot and toes. I knew it felt good to work them out, even though I really didn’t know what I was doing.
Come to find out these “crunchies” are a real thing and something that should not be left in your feet. These crunchies were once thought to be an accumulation of metabolic waste (uric and lactic acid). New studies suggest that the crunchies are actually entanglements of nervous tissue which actually indicates unhealthy organs throughout the body.
What are they?
These crunchy deposits are not attached to muscles or tendons as other theories suggest. They appear to be bundles of connective tissue fibers that are mirroring problems in other parts of the body. Our experience has shown that often certain areas on the foot reflect a problem that is occurring in an organ system.
Examples:
1) People with liver disease have more crunchies in their right foot just below the ball of that foot
2) People with blood pressure problems have crunchies in the middle of the soles of their feet.
3) People with insomnia have crunchies in their big toes.
These are just three examples of the dozens of trends we have found by examining the feet. Studies have concluded that crunchy deposits in the feet may mean an anatomical problem or body imbalance or dysfunction in an organ.
What does that crunchy feeling mean?
If the crunchy is painful to YOU and is also very clearly felt by a therapist or your own fingers, it may indicate a chronic pathology. A chronic pathology means, it has been there a while! If there is mild sensitivity that is only experienced by YOU and is NOT felt by a therapist or your own hand, it is an acute pathology. An acute pathology means, it is a new thing and hasn’t been there that long.
Treatment:
After I started school to become a massage therapist I found myself thinking of different ways that everyday objects could be used as a massage tool. One day, I was at my sister’s house and I found a regular ole’ marble. I starter to roll the marble in my hand and it felt great; so I tried it on my feet. It felt AMAZING!
LET’S TRY IT
1) Find a marble, golf ball, or any hard sphere.
2) Roll it using circular motion all over the bottom of your feet.
3) Pause and push down when you feel a tender spot.
4) While working on that tender spot, take deep slow breaths.
Take a look at the chart below. See if you can find the spot on your foot that our experience has taught us, corresponds to the organ your body is telling you might be in distress.
5) Place your hand over that organ and massage it while pressing down into the marble.
Challenge: Try this and tell us what you experienced. This treatment is taken from the Reflexology modality common in massage therapy. It can be performed by any therapist with the training. Contact us at (918) 610-0027 and we’ll help you find one.
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References:
http://www.realbodywork.com/reflexology/reflexology.htm
Reflexology: Gravity & “Crunchies”
http://www.massagemag.com/News/massage-news.php?id=10686
