The role of foot massage in traditional Chinese medicine

Medicated massage therapy is an external treatment method under the guidance of Chinese medicine theory, which selects certain Chinese herbal medicines, processes them into Chinese herbal medicine massage, and then bathes the whole body, half body or part (such as foot massage, arm massage, facial massage, etc.). ) Medicated massage therapy is an important treatment method in traditional Chinese medicine, which has been proved by thousands of years' practice to be an effective medicine for preventing diseases, hairdressing and health care.

The active ingredients in the medicated bath mainly enter the body through skin, mucous membrane and meridians, and some volatile drug molecules can also enter the body through nose and mouth breathing. In this way, the irritation of drugs to oral mucosa, digestive tract and stomach is avoided, the burden on the liver is reduced, and the utilization rate of drugs is improved, so drug massage is a unique way of administration. Medicinal bath has more advantages than external application. Modern medicine believes that the osmotic absorption capacity of drugs is directly proportional to skin humidity, that is, high skin humidity leads to strong osmotic absorption capacity; "Jin Jian of Medical Zong" also thinks that when Chinese medicine is used externally, it "promotes dampness to clear the orifices, promotes dryness and prevents qi from entering". Therefore, Chinese massage is more important than other external treatments in improving curative effect. Wide adaptability is another major feature of medicinal massage, which has advantages in treating various clinical diseases, especially for people who are weak, unable to take medicine or refuse to take medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine medicated diet massage has the same purpose and effect as oral administration. It not only has a wide range of functions in treating diseases, but also is favored by people in beauty and skin care. Traditional Chinese medicine massage is also an important means of health rehabilitation and physical fitness. Bathing can dredge the sweat pores of the skin, increase the metabolic capacity and disease resistance of the skin, promote the blood circulation of the body, relieve muscle tension, eliminate fatigue and promote sleep, which has a good effect on the health care of normal people and the rehabilitation of sick bodies. In the process of medical massage treatment, there are synergistic effects of drug absorption, water temperature stimulation, physical stimulation, chemical stimulation and liquid medicine, so medical massage is the combination of medical treatment and physical treatment. According to different diseases, different drugs can be used to treat different diseases. Proper temperature stimulation can play a role in exercising, regulating metabolism and preventing diseases. The mechanical stimulation of water shows that hydrostatic pressure can strengthen respiratory movement and gas metabolism, compress blood vessels and lymphatic vessels on the body surface, increase the return of body fluids and cause the redistribution of body fluids in the body. Trace minerals in water can change the heat exchange between the body and water and strengthen the chemical stimulation of hydrotherapy.

Traditional Chinese medicine foot massage is a kind of medical massage therapy, which has various advantages and its own characteristics. Huangdi Neijing, a classic work of ancient medicine in China, introduced meridians and acupoints in detail, including many acupoints on the feet. Such as Xiexi, Chongyang, Sink Valley, Neiting and Lidui of the Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming; Foot shaoyang gallbladder meridian exists, foot is close to water spirit, summer; Kunlun, Jinggu, Bendu, Tonggu and Yin Zhi with the bladder meridian of the Sun; Foot shaoyin kidney meridian Yongquan, Gu Ran, Taixi and Fuliu; The spleen meridian of foot yin is white, mostly Taibai and Shangqiu; Dadun, Intermittent, Dachong and Zhongfeng of the Liver Meridian of Foot Jueyin. This shows that our ancestors have long recognized that there are many sensitive reaction points (acupoints) in the foot and their close relationship with human internal organs, and also pointed out that stimulating these reaction points can achieve the effect of treating diseases. The meridian tropism theory of traditional Chinese medicine also thinks that drugs can achieve the therapeutic effect on patients through specific meridians. Modern research shows that some patients have different degrees of nail fold microcirculation disturbance, especially those with coronary heart disease, dysmenorrhea, Raynaud's disease, arteriosclerosis obliterans and other qi stagnation and blood stasis, and the microcirculation disturbance is more obvious, mainly manifested as the increase in the number of abnormal microvessels, congestion and dilatation of vascular loops, slow blood flow and blood cell aggregation. According to different diseases, after 20 minutes of foot massage treatment, nail fold microcirculation was examined. The microcirculation disturbance of most patients was improved, which showed that the blood flow velocity of vascular loop was obviously accelerated, and the blood cell aggregation and congestion in loop were reduced. Although there was no obvious microcirculation abnormality in healthy people before foot massage, after 20 minutes of foot massage, the nailfold microcirculation function can be enhanced, such as the blood flow speed is accelerated, the caliber is increased, and the fullness is increased. The improvement of microcirculation is beneficial to the absorption of drugs, which fully proves that foot massage health care has a solid scientific foundation.