Reflexology is the application of applying pressure to reflex points on the feet with hand, finger, and thumb based on zone theory of areas that reflect an image of the body on the feet, this stimulates areas of the body to promote a balanced homeostasis, by removing energy blocks so that the body can heal itself.

With most people they are more relaxed getting their feet worked on. I also work on the hands and ears.

 Edwin Bowers MD states “This pressure therapy has as advantage over any other methods of pain relief in as much as it has been proven that in contradistinction to opiates (drugs), when reflex pressure relieves pain it like wise tends to remove the cause of the pain.”

A little history on reflexology…

The beginning origins of Reflexology are unknown, however in Egypt about 2,330 BC hieroglyphics in the physician’s tomb depict people having their feet/hands worked on. In addition, other countries such as China, Japan, and India also show signs of work being done on the feet and hands. In Russia Dr. Vladimir Bekterev coined the term “Reflexology” in 1917, and stated that an organ experiences illness because it receives the wrong operating instructions from the brain. By interrupting the body’s misguided instructions, the Reflexologist prompts the body to behave in a better manner. Conditioning of better behavior is achieved by the application of a series of such interruptions.

The technique know today as Reflexology owes its origins in America to an Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist, William Fitzgerald who received this ancient knowledge while in Europe studying developed it into an independent system which he called zone therapy. Zone therapy is a system for organizing relationships between various parts of the body. There are 10 equal longitudinal zones running the length of the body from head to toe. Ten corresponds to the number of fingers/toes, each falling into a different zone. From the center to the left and center to right sides of the body so the great toe and thumbs fall to the middle of the body, zone one where the spine is located. Zones two through five respectively, move toward the outer edge of the body.

Also responsible for this wide spread information and knowledge of Reflexology in the U.S. is a physiotherapist Eunice Ingham who applied zone therapy to the foot. She also began an intense mapping of the feet by working within a small community. She documented several cases of ailments by working specific areas of the feet that reflected part of the body, which had a noticeable effect on the ailment.