1. Adjustment of nervous system:
As mentioned above, the electrical properties of the hand and foot is similar to those of the brain, but the reflex mechanisms of the nervous system are more complicated. Hand and foot massage can apply stimulation to the skin receptors and nerve endings of the hand and foot to adjust the internal organs after the stimulating impulse is transmitted through the vegetative nervous system.

The stimulating impulse evoked by the massage to the terminal receptors (with some specificity) of the skin is first transmitted to the posterior horn of the spinal cord through afferent somatic nerve fibers; it is then conducted to the ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus through the spinothalamic tract and projected to the postcentral gyms through the occipital part of the internal capsule; the nerve impulse is again transmitted from the postcentral gyms through efferent fibers to the reticular structure; and finally it is conducted to the internal organs through three routes.

The first is from the reticular structure through the spinal nucleus of the vagus nerve, and parasympathetic fibers in vagus nerve to the internal organs; the second route is through the nucleus of the solitary tract, spinal nucleus of vagus nerve, and nerve fibers of vagus nerve to the internal organs; and the third route is from the reticular structure through the nucleus of the solitary tract to the center of sympathetic nervous system and then through the reticulospinal tract to the internal organs. As with other stimulation, the strong stimulation at short intervals can produce a stimulating effect; and the moderate stimulation at long intervals can produce an inhibitory effect. This phenomenon is a result of the adjustment between stimulation and inhibition by the cerebral cortex. During the application of hand and foot massage, the EEG may show a general exaggeration of alpha waves, even more apparent than that caused by other massage therapies.