Effect of reflexology at pancreatic area of palms on blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized controlled study

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent metabolic diseases. Reflexology is a form of treatment which involves giving massage or pressure to the particular points of the feet and hands. This study was performed to find the effect of reflexology at pancreatic area of palms (RPP) on random blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study was done at Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College, Chennai, India. A total of 100 participants with T2DM were randomly allocated to reflexology group (RG) (n=50) and control group (CG) (n=50). RG underwent only one session of RPP for the duration of 20-minutes (10-minutes to right palm followed by 10-minutes to left palm), while the CG was on rest in sitting posture for the duration of 20-minutes. Random blood glucose levels (RBG) were assessed before and after the intervention. Inter group analysis showed a significant reduction in RBG levels in the RG (z=4.606; p <0.001; Effect size: d=0.243), unlike CG (t=0.668; p=0.507; Effect size: d=0.023). However, between-groups analyses did not show a significant difference in RBG levels between the groups (z=1.406, p=0.160; Effect size: d=0.307). None of the participants reported any adverse events during or after the study. RG reduces RBG levels with a small effect size compared to CG. Thus, twenty minutes of RPP might have some effect in reducing blood glucose levels in patients with T2DM. However, further studies are required to warrant the results of this study.