Revs®, Reflexology and the Common Cold
The common cold is something we all experience from time to time. With symptoms such as a blocked nose, sore throat, sneezing, coughing and fatigue, it's your body's way of responding to a viral infection while your immune system gets to work.
There is no cure for the common cold, and reflexology should never be seen as a treatment for viral infections. However, using the Ingham Method® of reflexology, the philosophy behind the design of Revs® footwear, we can support the body's natural healing processes by encouraging relaxation, reducing stress and helping restore balance throughout the body.
Treating the Whole Person
One of the key principles of the Ingham Method® is that we never simply treat a symptom—we treat the whole person.
Although someone may go for reflexology because they have a cold, every treatment begins with a full reflexology routine across both feet. This holistic approach allows all areas of congestion, tenderness or imbalance to be treated. This approach is how Revs® can provide the same treatment and benefits for you, with the massage nodules stimulating all reflexes on the feet, so targeting the whole person and those areas of toxicity or congestion in your body.
Extra sensitivity may be noticed in certain reflexes associated with the respiratory and immune systems, and these are areas you can work on yourself if you want to give more attention to them.
The Reflex Areas Commonly Given Extra Attention
Head and Sinus Reflexes
In the Ingham Method, the reflexes for the head are located in the toes, with the sinus reflexes found in the fleshy pads of each toe.
When someone is experiencing sinus congestion or pressure, careful thumb-walking through these reflexes may help encourage relaxation and relieve the feeling of facial tension that often accompanies a cold.
Nose Reflex
The nose reflex is located on the medial side of the great toes.
This area is often worked when a client has nasal congestion, a runny nose or frequent sneezing. While reflexology won't clear the infection, many clients report that they feel less congested and more comfortable following treatment.
Throat Reflex
The throat reflex is found at the base of both great toes where they join the foot.
When a sore throat accompanies a cold, this reflex is often worked gently as part of the overall treatment.
Bronchial and Lung Reflexes
The bronchial and lung reflexes occupy much of the ball of each foot beneath the toes.
These areas are frequently given additional attention when someone has a cough or chest congestion. Gentle, methodical thumb-walking may help encourage relaxation of the chest and support easier, more comfortable breathing.
It's important to remember that reflexology is not a treatment for respiratory illness, and anyone experiencing shortness of breath or chest pain should seek prompt medical attention.
Diaphragm Reflex
The diaphragm reflex runs horizontally across both feet, just beneath the ball of the foot.
This is one of the most important reflexes to work during any treatment, particularly when someone is feeling run down. Releasing tension through the diaphragm reflex encourages deeper relaxation, calmer breathing and can help the body switch into a restorative state.
Lymphatic System
Rather than having one single lymphatic reflex, the Ingham Method recognises lymphatic drainage throughout the body via multiple reflex areas.
By carrying out a complete reflexology treatment, circulation and lymphatic movement are supported naturally as part of the body's overall balancing response. This is one reason why treating the whole foot remains so important.
Adrenal Glands
Being unwell places physical stress on the body.
The adrenal gland reflexes, located on the medial aspect of each foot above the kidney reflexes, are often worked to encourage the body's natural response to stress and support overall balance during recovery.
Solar Plexus Reflex
The solar plexus reflex, situated centrally within the diaphragm line on the left foot, is an important point in every Ingham Method treatment.
Gentle pressure here often encourages a profound sense of relaxation, helping clients let go of tension and making it easier to rest—something the body needs when recovering from a cold.
Why Relaxation Matters
Research has shown that chronic stress can influence how effectively the immune system functions. One of reflexology's greatest strengths is its ability to promote deep relaxation.
When the body moves away from a heightened stress response and into a more relaxed state, energy can be directed towards the normal processes involved in repair and recovery. Although reflexology does not cure a cold, creating the conditions for rest and relaxation may help clients feel better while their body heals naturally.
The Ingham Philosophy
Eunice Ingham often reminded practitioners that reflexology is not about chasing symptoms—it's about helping the whole body function as efficiently as possible.
When someone comes for treatment with a common cold, we don't simply focus on the nose or chest. We work the entire reflex map of the feet, supporting all the body's systems while paying particular attention to the respiratory reflexes where appropriate.
By treating the person rather than the illness, reflexology offers a gentle, holistic approach that leaves many clients feeling calmer, more balanced and better able to support their own recovery.
Revs® design is based on the reflexology principles of the Eunice Ingham Method®, offering you full body support. By stimulating your reflex areas in the feet, which correspond to all of the organs, glands, muscles and parts of the body, you are inducing a healing response which may help alleviate many health problems, ailments and pain in a natural way.
