Reflexology is a form of alternative medicine with a long and nearly global history. The practice is built on the idea that pressure points, primarily on the feet and hands, correspond to specific organs of the body. Reflexologists manipulate these points with the goal of improving the function of the target organs. Reflexology has been touted to be beneficial in the treatment of a wide variety of illnesses from depression to cancer.
Ancient Reflexology
Inscriptions dating to around 2330 B.C.E. suggest that the practice of reflexology may have its roots in ancient Egypt. Evidence also exists that a similar method was in later use in China and Japan. Western physicians began to form the basic ideas of reflexology in the early 19th century, primarily in Russia and other parts of Europe.
The Zone Theory
In the early 1900s, an ear, nose and throat doctor from Connecticut named William H. Fitzgerald published a series of papers detailing a theory for pain management he called "zone analgesia." Fitzgerald divided the body into a series of zones and believed that by manipulating pressure points that correspond to an injury, the pain could be alleviated. Shelby Riley, a colleague of Fitzgerald, built on the original Zone Theory by dividing the hands and feet into specific zones.
Expansion of the Theory
In the early 1930s, a physical therapist named Eunice D. Ingham, who worked closely with Riley, became interested in the Zone Theory and began to form her own theories. Ingham theorized that the pressure points on the feet, called reflexes, correlate directly to the position of the organs of the body. Ingham published a book in 1938 called "Stories the Feet Can Tell," which detailed her findings and how she reached them. A French neurosurgeon, Paul Nogier, documented a map of reflexes on the human ear in 1957, and in 1975, the first book on hand reflexology was written by Mildred Carter.
Modern Reflexology
The three methods of hand, food and ear reflexology remained relatively separate with practitioners specializing in one rather than utilizing all three. In the 1980s, Bill Flocco began experimenting with the integration of the three methods. This approach became known as the Flocco Method and claims greater success than use of just one reflexology method.
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