USE OF REFLEXOLOGY IN DIABETES MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Diabetes is a significant chronic disease that creates a serious burden on individuals and society. Chronic diseases are among the main factors that cause deterioration in the quality of life of individuals, limitations in their daily lives and premature deaths. Diabetes can lead to dysfunction in all the body’s systems when not treated in a timely and well-treated manner. In order to manage the complex symptoms of diabetes, patients sometimes turn to complementary and alternative therapies in addition to medical treatment. The aim of complementary practices is to create a healing environment, to raise awareness of the individual and to reveal the power of self-healing. Diabetes patients generally use complementary and alternative therapies for diabetes treatment or general health. It is known that patients with diabetes use complementary and alternative therapies to lower/balance blood sugar and prevent diabetes complications. Complementary and alternative treatment methods generally used in diabetes are yoga, acupuncture, reflexology, aromatherapy and herbal therapies. This article was compiled to be both informative and helpful for future research due to the lack of sufficient studies on the effects of reflexology in the treatment of patients with diabetes.

Keywords

• manual therapy
• symptom management
• reflexology
• chronic diseases
• diabetes