Facial reflexology: The latest fad in Britain

Suffering from stress, insomnia, or memory loss? Don't pop a pill, instead press your face, say experts, who have come out with a complementary therapy called facial reflexology - the latest fad in Britain.

Suffering from stress, insomnia, or memory loss? Don't pop a pill, instead press your face, say experts, who have come out with a complementary therapy called facial reflexology - the latest fad in Britain.

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The therapy works by stimulating pressure points on the face that correspond with particular parts of the body. In fact, it's effective because the face has a large number of nerves and blood vessels, say its advocates.

According to them, facial reflexology combines massage with theories based on acupuncture and Chinese concepts of energy lines, or meridians, the Daily Mail reported.

The facial reflexologists say they can feel a change of texture as a result of these "imbalances" under the upper layer of skin on the face. They are said to feel like lumps of porridge or grains of sand. By working over the face with the fingertips, they can, the experts claim, break down these deposits, boosting the energy, circulatory and nervous systems.

"The brain is the control centre of the body and the face is much closer to it than the feet are, so face reflexology can work faster than foot reflexology," leading facial reflexologist Nikke Ariff as saying. Arif, one of the estimated 35,000 reflexologists now practising in Britain, says that each session begins by stimulating the acupuncture points on face using acupressure. As well as being "energy points" they are important blood circulation and nerve supply areas, she says.