Korean Hand Therapy is an alternative medical practice that combines simple reflexology and the 3000-year old Oriental
Acupuncture Medicine. Both reflexology and acupuncture are
alternative medicines . Reflexology involves the application of pressure to the feet, hands or ears with the use of the thumb, finger and hand techniques without the need for oil or lotion. Acupuncture treats patients with insertion and manipulation of thin needles in the body. In the
Korean Hand Therapy, the treatment of the hand is said to affect the whole body by massage or reflexology and acupuncture. This is because the hands are considered as a microsystem of the whole body. With this system, conditions anywhere in the body can be diagnosed by treating just the hands of the patient.
Developed in 1970 by Dr. Tae Woo Yoo, a South Korean doctor of
oriental medicine, Korean Hand Therapy is based on the belief that each hand has 14 micro-meridians and 345 acupuncture points that provide access to the internal organs of the body. Taken differently, the hand is like a mirror that reflects the conditions of the body so that any pain or dysfunction in any part of the body has a pain or dysfunction in the corresponding point on the hand. Once this point is treated it is believed that the problem in the body will diminish or melt away. The points of the hand are said to be aligned from the middle finger down to the wrist on the palm side, and the back of the hand. A
map of the Korean Hand Therapy indicates the following: (a) The tips of the middle fingers are points for the head and spine down the length of the middle finger on the back of the hand, (b) The point for the tailbone or coccyx or the small triangular bone at the base of the spinal column, is located just above the wrist joint at the back of the hand, (c) On the palm side of the hand are points for the internal organs such as the heart, stomach, uterus and liver, and (d) The tips of all fingers correspond to the top of the head.
Diagnosing an ailment or health problem involves such techniques as pulse-taking, abdominal diagnosis, and the conventional medical methods. Once the problem is diagnosed, its corresponding point on the hand can be stimulated with the use of needles, small magnets and other instruments, or with massage, or use of color light, electricity, heat, and laser. Practitioners say the Korean Hand Therapy is an effective treatment for various diseases including allergy, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis and infertility. Its healing therapy can alleviate pain, promote recovery, relieve nausea or stomach distress with a distaste for food, and contribute to health protection.
The Korean Hand Therapy has been so effective in South Korea that the national government has caused the training of thousands of its citizens for the primary healthcare of the country’s villages and city neighborhoods. The government has recognized this need especially with the belief that the alternative medical practice can be combined with other forms of healthcare. In the United States, the American Reflexology Certification Board has been conducting seminars on the hand therapy in many states as part of its continuing education program on the alternative
medicine .
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