Is it true that standing on nails is good for your health?

Recently, nailing has become a popular healing practice that claims to help a number of body systems. We decided to check what science knows about the benefits of such a hobby.

Nailing - one of trends TikTok fall 2022. Video such practices are recruiting hundreds thousand likes And thousands comments. Nail trainers offer their services on the Internet - some work remotely, others in face-to-face groups are ready to put everyone on nails. According to data service Profi.ru, there are almost 2000 such trainers in Moscow alone. Google Trends refers the request “sadhu board” (this is the name of a special board with nails) to super popular requests. Approvedthat standing on nails speeds up metabolism, regulates blood pressure, improves reproductive function, displays wastes and toxins (the myth about wastes and toxins we have already sorted it out previously). Recommend This practice is also used to treat osteochondrosis, frequent colds, and flat feet. For women this technique is like promise, will reduce PMS symptoms and reduce menstrual pain. Nailing recommend even for children. Moreover, citing WHO data, supporters of this practice report, that “pressure on the points [on the feet] effectively helps with at least 28 diseases, ranging from headaches and depression to allergic reactions, stroke and spinal problems.” Principle work of this practices, How they tell specialized sites, is availability on the feet of the points, responding for the health of each organ. At the same time "cards" organs vary from site To website.

First, let's look at the physics of standing on nails. Everyone knows that if you step on a nail, it will pierce the skin and go deep into the foot. This does not happen to nail practitioners, but not because they are special people. The fact is that the larger the surface area over which the weight is distributed, the lower the pressure at each specific point. By calculations According to Wired magazine author Rhett Allen, a total of 1,394 nails with a 1 mm head are required to distribute the weight of an adult man when lying down and not cause damage to his skin. For beginners, standing on nails (and the surface for standing is much smaller than for lying down) recommended use planks with 1070–1100 nails. That is, there really will be no penetrating wounds.

In terms of potential therapeutic effects, the principle of nailing is close to the principle of acupuncture, or reflexology - the idea that by acting on certain points, you can redirect vital energy through certain channels called meridians to the desired organ. At the same time acupuncture refers to alternative medicine and its medicinal effects weren't confirmed in most research. British doctor Edzard Ernst, who specializes in scientific testing of alternative medicine methods, and popularizer of science Simon Singh in their joint book “No wallet, no life. Alternative medicine under investigation" writethat scientists have not yet found any evidence of the existence of meridians or any vital energy. Moreover, in the blind research patients the same assessed the effect of procedures performed according to the rules of acupuncture and their imitation, that is, when they acted not on points, but simply on a random place. In 2013 in the journal “Anesthesia and Analgesia” came out article by David Colhoun, a professor at University College London, and Stephen Novella from Yale University entitled “Acupuncture is a theatrical placebo.” In it, scientists summed up the accumulated knowledge about acupuncture: “Since, after more than 3,000 trials, it was impossible to find consistent evidence [of the effectiveness of acupuncture], it was time to give up. It is extremely unlikely that the money required to conduct another 3,000 tests will be well spent.”

Surprisingly, the WHO review reported by nail sites actually exists. This Job 2003, in which experts actually identified diseases or conditions for which acupuncture had a significant therapeutic effect. In addition to the already mentioned depression, headaches and allergies, this list included pathologies such as dysentery, renal colic, hay fever and abnormal fetal position during childbirth. However, this WHO report subjected to tough criticism by the scientific community, was barely published. Moreover, two years later, the same group of experts that claimed the benefits of acupuncture released another report on alternative medicine. It concerned conditions in which homeopathy showed a therapeutic effect (the report is not on the WHO website, but mentioned in other reports). And this report was also criticized by the scientific community for the fact that was “overtly biased, that is, its authors relied on positive data, “forgetting” about negative studies and systematic reviews. To date, the report on acupuncture absent on the official WHO website. Data Cochrane reviews (the largest database on evidence-based medicine) called quality evidence in an article about acupuncture extremely low And note problems with design research.

Today, scientists agree that no parts of the feet can be connected to internal organs. The fact is that for communication in the human body exists There are only two systems: nervous and endocrine. Scientists have not found nerves that go directly from the feet to the liver, lungs or, for example, the eyes. The work of the endocrine system is that the glands secrete hormones into the blood, which then affect the target organs. However, such a connection has also been identified there was no.

At the same time, reflexology and nailing as part of it still have some positive effects. In defense of reflexology speak out specialists from the British Cancer Society: for example, self-massage of the head, as one of the areas of reflexology, according to self-report, helped women with breast cancer to better tolerate chemotherapy. Presumably, the positive effect may be associated with the release of endorphins - neurotransmitters of pleasure and a number of psychological factors. Endorphins stand out in many pleasant situations - for example, when we eat something tasty, get a massage, or have sex. At the same time, endorphins are also released in response to stress or pain - for example, during a hard workout in the gym or after an injury. Therefore, in general, standing on nails can be no less effective in terms of improving psychological well-being than jogging or eating donuts. However, neither donuts, nor running, nor nails have a therapeutic effect for somatic, that is, bodily, pathologies.

Thus, the popular practice of nailing can improve psychological well-being and help you relax or unwind. However, you should not place too much hope on it, because its action is based on the release of endorphins. And if the thrill is not your thing, then a board with nails can just as easily be replaced by a workout in the gym, a romantic evening with your partner, or eating your favorite food.

Cover image: Photo by Mikhail Nilov

Mostly not true

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