By August, most of us have asked a lot of our feet. There have been long walks on the South Downs, an afternoon up Leith Hill, a stretch of the Downs Link with the dog, and more hours standing on a lawn at a village fete than anyone planned. Add a few weeks in flat sandals and it's no surprise that the question I hear most at this time of year is some version of "can you do anything for tired feet?"
Can reflexology help tired feet? It may, and I'd rather be honest than grand about it. Reflexology is a complementary therapy, not a medical treatment, so I don't promise to fix anything. What I can say is that clients often tell me their feet feel lighter and their whole body calmer afterwards, and that they sleep well that night.
That's the short answer. The rest of this post is about why summer is so hard on feet, what a session actually feels like when yours are aching, and when tired feet are a sign of something a GP should look at rather than me. If you're new to reflexology altogether, my post on what reflexology is and how it works is a good place to start.
Why Do Feet Take Such a Beating in Summer?
Partly it's the miles. The light evenings stretch the dog walk from twenty minutes to an hour, weekends fill up with proper hikes, and a route that looked gentle on the map turns out to have a long climb in it. The South Downs are beautiful and they are also relentlessly up and down. Leith Hill is the same. Even the Downs Link, which is mostly flat, adds up once you've walked a decent stretch of it and back.
Then there's what's on your feet while you do it. Flat sandals and flip-flops offer almost nothing in the way of support, and the small muscles in your feet spend all day gripping to keep them on. Trainers that were fine for a stroll round Horsham Park aren't always fine for six miles of chalk track.
Standing still is harder work than it looks, too. Fetes, barbecues, a sports day on a school field, an hour by the paddling pool. Standing about on a hot afternoon with a paper plate in one hand tends to leave feet feeling heavier than a walk of the same length would.
Heat plays its part. Lots of people notice their feet and ankles feel a little puffy at the end of a warm day, particularly if they've been sitting or standing in one position for a long time. Holiday travel does the same thing in a different way: a long drive to the coast or a few hours on a plane, feet wedged in one spot the whole time.
None of this is a reason to stop. Walking is one of the best things you can do for yourself, and the NHS has a good, plain-spoken page on walking for health if you'd like the encouragement. It's simply that the feet doing all the carrying deserve a bit of care in return.
What Does Reflexology Feel Like on Tired Feet?
The first thing people are surprised by is that it isn't ticklish, and it isn't a foot rub either. You recline in the chair I bring, your feet rest on a warm towel, and I work across the soles, the tops, around the ankles and each toe in turn using my thumbs and fingers. The pressure is firm enough to feel purposeful and never rough. If anything is tender, you tell me and I ease off or work around it.
On feet that have done a lot, that first minute or so can feel like a long exhale. People who arrive at the chair braced for it to hurt usually stop bracing quite quickly. Then the breathing slows, the shoulders drop, and somewhere around the second foot most clients have gone very quiet.
Afterwards, the words I hear most often are light and loose. Clients often say their feet feel as though they've been put back on properly. The other thing people tell me is how well they slept that night. I've written more about that in my post on reflexology and sleep.
I'll hedge that a little, because I should. Not everyone feels it straight away. Some people notice the difference the next morning rather than that evening, and a few simply feel pleasantly sleepy and nothing more dramatic, which is a perfectly good outcome in itself. Reflexology is a complementary therapy that may support relaxation and general wellbeing. It doesn't treat or cure anything, and I'd be wary of any therapist who told you otherwise. I'm fully qualified, fully insured and a member of the Association of Reflexologists, and being straight about what the therapy is and isn't is part of what that membership asks of me.
Is It Just Tired, or Should You See a GP?
This matters, so I'll be plain about it. Ordinary summer tiredness has a pattern. It's in both feet, it builds over a long day, it eases with a night's sleep or an evening with your feet up, and it doesn't stop you doing anything the next morning. That's the kind of tiredness I work with every week.
A few things are different, and they need a GP rather than a reflexologist. Swelling that sticks around rather than settling overnight, or that's only in one foot or one leg. Pain that doesn't ease with rest. A foot or ankle that feels hot to the touch, or looks red. Any of those are worth a phone call to your surgery, and the NHS page on swollen ankles, feet and legs sets out clearly when swelling needs looking at.
If you're pregnant and your feet, hands or face swell suddenly, don't wait. Call your midwife or maternity unit the same day. Sudden swelling in pregnancy is something they will always want to know about straight away.
I'm a reflexologist, not a doctor, and I'll always say so. If I see something on your feet that doesn't look right when we start a session, I'll tell you and suggest you get it checked before we go any further. I've set out the situations where I'd ask you to speak to your GP first in my post on who shouldn't have reflexology. It's a short list, and most people aren't on it.
Simple Ways to Look After Summer Feet
None of this is complicated, and you've probably heard all of it from a grandparent. Put your feet up at the end of a long day, properly up, on the arm of the sofa or a couple of cushions. A bowl of cool water for ten minutes is old-fashioned and lovely, and a paddle in the sea counts.
Wear proper shoes for the proper walks. Keep the flip-flops for the garden and the beach, and put something with a bit of support on before you set off up the Downs. Alternating what you wear from one day to the next helps too, so the same spots aren't taking the same pressure every day.
Why Is a Home Visit the Point in Summer?
Here's the bit I'd most like you to take from this post. In a clinic, the very last thing you do after a treatment is put your shoes back on and walk to the car. Warm, loosened, relaxed feet go straight back into the sandals that tired them out, and then you drive home. It's a small thing, but it undoes more of the good than you'd think.
At home, there's no walking anywhere. I pack the chair down and you stay exactly where you are, barefoot, feet up on the sofa, with the rest of the evening ahead of you. In summer that might mean the back door open and the garden going quiet outside. I've set up in conservatories and beside open patio doors, and a long light evening suits the treatment particularly well.
If you'd like the practical detail, what I bring, how much room you need and what to wear, it's all in my post on what to expect from a reflexology home visit. The short version is a corner of the living room and a quiet hour.
I travel across my whole patch, which suits the walkers rather well. If you've spent the day on the Downs Link, I cover Rudgwick and the villages around it. If you've come down off Leith Hill with legs that have had enough, I cover Dorking too. Either way, the walk to your appointment is from the sofa to the chair and back again.
Which Session Suits Tired Summer Feet?
Two options, and it depends how much of you needs to switch off.
An Express session is £30 for 30 minutes. It's focused on the feet, and it's the one I'd suggest after a big walk or a long day standing about, when your feet are the main complaint and the rest of you is fine. Think of it as a quick reset.
A Full session is £45 for 60 minutes. This is the one for when it isn't only your feet, when the whole body feels wound up and you'd like a proper hour to let go. It's also the session people tend to mean when they tell me about the sleep afterwards.
If you walked with someone, a Couples booking is £80 and gives you 60 minutes each. And if you're the sort who's out on the hills most weekends, a Course of 3 is £120 and a Course of 5 is £190, which makes it easy to build a session into the routine. Everything is listed on my services page, and you can book online there or call me on 07980 112 120 if you'd rather have a chat first.
Keep walking. The Downs will still be there in September. Just give your feet an evening off now and then, ideally one where they don't have to go anywhere at all afterwards.