Report on a membership audit of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Reflex Therapy (ACPIRT)
Limited EvidenceIn Plain Language
Reflex Therapy (RT), akin to reflexology, is a non-invasive physiotherapy modality approved by the UK Chartered Society of Physiotherapists. One hundred members of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Reflex Therapy (ACPIRT) participated in an audit to establish a baseline of practice. Findings indicate that experienced therapists use RT in conjunction with their professional skills to induce relaxation (95%) and reduce pain (86%) for patients with conditions including whiplash injury and chronic pain. According to 68% of respondents, RT is "very good," "good" or "as good as" orthodox physiotherapy practices. Requiring minimal equipment, RT may be as cost effective as orthodox physiotherapy with regards to duration and frequency of treatment.
Key Findings: what this observational study found
- ✓Ninety-five percent of experienced reflex therapy practitioners use RT to induce relaxation in their patients, while 86% report using it to reduce pain for conditions such as whiplash injury and chronic pain.
- ✓According to 68% of survey respondents, reflex therapy is rated as 'very good,' 'good,' or equivalent in effectiveness to orthodox physiotherapy practices.
- ✓Reflex therapy requires minimal equipment and may be as cost-effective as orthodox physiotherapy when considering treatment duration and frequency.
What This Means for You
This survey suggests reflex therapy may help with relaxation and pain reduction according to practicing therapists, though the evidence is based on practitioners' reports rather than controlled testing.
What This Means for Practitioners
Use this audit data to demonstrate that experienced reflex therapists see consistent benefits in relaxation and pain reduction, which may help you justify treatment frequency and cost-effectiveness to clients.
Study Design: how this observational study was run
Common questions about this study
What does this study mean in practice?
This survey suggests reflex therapy may help with relaxation and pain reduction according to practicing therapists, though the evidence is based on practitioners' reports rather than controlled testing.
What did this study find?
Ninety-five percent of experienced reflex therapy practitioners use RT to induce relaxation in their patients, while 86% report using it to reduce pain for conditions such as whiplash injury and chronic pain. According to 68% of survey respondents, reflex therapy is rated as 'very good,' 'good,' or equivalent in effectiveness to orthodox physiotherapy practices. Reflex therapy requires minimal equipment and may be as cost-effective as orthodox physiotherapy when considering treatment duration and frequency.
How strong is this evidence?
This is a observational study and we rate its evidence limited. It covers 100 participants. It was published in Complementary therapies in clinical practice, a Q2 journal. This study is indexed here for context; it did not test reflexology itself.
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