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Aching feet

ACHING FEET “Reflexology can ease foot soreness by releasing tension and getting the blood flowing through the area.”

My college roommate once wrote a poem about my feet. They’re bony, weirdly shaped and so ugly, they’d shame a pair of Crocs. But aesthetics are the least of my problems: The damn things barely do their job. My arches are flat, I have painful bunions, and the soles lack padding. They ache all the time, which is only exacerbated by the unavoidable reality of stomping around on New York City’s unforgiving pavement (although I do wear sensible shoes).

While I’m fairly pessimistic that anything short of surgery could permanently relieve my chronically beaten dogs, I thought some footcentric massage might alleviate some of their distress. Reflexology, a practice based around the belief that your feet are covered with pressure points that correspond to every part of your body, isn’t specifically intended to treat foot pain—it typically addresses internal matters (like digestion issues) rather than structural ones. It is, however, said to ease foot soreness by virtue of the fact that it releases tension and gets the blood flowing through the area.

STEP ONE

The überluxurious Thai Privilege Spa (155 Spring St between West Broadway and Wooster St, second floor; 212-274-8121) is in a wood-and-gold-adorned 5,300-square-foot loft. My therapist, April, a diminutive Thai woman with a meek demeanor that belied her fierce fingers, asked if I had any physical problems other than the foot pain. I mentioned some congestion and chronic stress-induced aches in my neck. After giving me the customary welcoming footbath, she whisked me into one of the cavernous treatment rooms.

Using some mildly scented oil, April applied very firm pressure in linear strokes up and down my shins and calves (spots that my flat feet apparently make extra tired), along the tops and bottoms of my arches, and on and between my toes. It hurt quite a bit at times, and though April offered to ease up, I was trying to get the most out of my session by buying into the whole “no pain, no gain” thing. My first treatment ($120 for 60 minutes) left me sore (the bottoms of my feet actually hurt more when I left than they did when I walked in) and a bit tense from responding to April’s iron grip. But then a funny thing happened—I started feeling less congested. Huh. It might have been a placebo effect, but it made me look forward to my next session nonetheless.

STEP TWO

On my second visit, I focused on relaxing into the pressure of April’s strokes, and asked her to describe what she was doing in order to distract myself. Turns out her fingers were targeting every single corner of my body: A scraping motion just under my big toenail was meant to stimulate my jaw, pressure below the ball of my foot was aimed at my diaphragm, and strokes on the outside of my right heel were intended for my appendix. And this time it either hurt less (April says the pain indicates that the energy in the targeted spot isn’t flowing properly, so the more sessions you have, the better the energy flow), or my relaxation tactics worked: I was in a great mood—and felt lighter and pain-free on my feet—when I left.

STEP THREE

April and I were in sync. She seemed to be magically reading my body. At the end of the foot session she went straight for the pain in my shoulder—even though I never told her it was there—and she could somehow tell by manipulating my feet that I had to pee (um, I really did). Good mood and improved energy aside, the massages did ease the tension in my feet, but probably no better than a regular foot rub would have. Well, a regular foot rub, that is, from someone with superhumanly strong, psychic fingers. —Kate Lowenstein

OR TRY

Ayurveda’s Beauty Care
Get your soles manipulated by an ayurvedic practitioner. 99 University Pl between 12th and 13th Sts, fifth floor (212-529-3300); 30 minutes for $55, 55 minutes for $95

Angel Feet
These reflexologists have been here 13 years, and it’s the perfect place to sneak away to while shopping downtown. 77 Perry St between Bleecker and W 4th Sts (212-924-3576); 30 minutes for $75, 60 minutes for $115