Ashi Point (Ouch Point)

These are also points which elicit "good pain". There is a reason why that area or spot is painful. It can be due to one of six stagnations - qi, blood, dampness, phlegm, food and fire. All these six stagnations are inter-transformable, especially for chronic conditions. They are also aggravated by the seven emotions and /or the six external factors. Any form of chronic stagnation will ultimately affect the Kidney. When the Kidney becomes deficient or working less than 100 %, toxin such as uric acids start to not  get excreted through the Kidney, instead they crystalize and stay out of our circulatory system by turning  into uric acid crystals that is also the main cause of gout. As time goes by they  gather around our joints and because of gravity they eventually settle down on the bottom of our feet.

These uric acid crystals are the main cause of "good pain" during a reflexology session. These points are also called "ashi point". The pain also comes about because when pressure is applied to the point, the uric acid crystals which are shaped like spindles or needles hits a nerve and cause the nerve to send a message to the brain as pain. The application of pressure also cause the crystal to dissolve and re-enter the blood circulatory system. As the circulatory system speeds up during the session, the some of the dissolved uric acid will get filtered out when they re- circulate to the Kidney again. As this process happen, toxins and stagnations are removed and the pain on painful spots are dramatically reduced. Healthy circulation will then be restored. So by making sure that the blood, qi, dampness, phlegm, food, and fire do not stagnate, we will be able to keep our system in equilibrium.