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Reflexology: The Technique

When a reflex point is stimulated there is a therapeutic reaction at the corresponding organ site, body system or skin surface area that relates to that particular reflex. Various techniques or methods of applying pressure or stimulating reflexes are used to initiate this response. The thumbs and fingers are utilised to achieve this. Therapists are trained to carry out these sensitive movements in a sequential fashion. The response and experience clients obtain from their treatment is unique and it is regarded as being a positive encounter.

Reflexology. Results of a Treatment

A treatment should correct any energy imbalance and improve circulation as a direct response to the therapeutic method applied. Reflexology may also rectify nerve and blood supply damage. A reflexology treatment can also reduce build up of lactic acid and eliminate deposits of calcium crystals which are known to block energy flow.

The result of this stimulation is thought to achieve a general feeling of physical, psychological and spiritual wellbeing, which induces a deep relaxation, relieves stress and eliminated toxins.

In a study carried out at Exeter University on patients with chest pain who received reflexology concluded that the treatment resulted in a positive response.

Reflexology: Who can benefit from a treatment?

Reflexology can be beneficial for adults and children. It is an ideal therapy for correcting energy levels, eliminate stress and prevent illness. It can be used in the management of acute and chronic disease. A practitioner should be aware of the contraindications for a reflexology treatment and not offer therapy to clients when it is deemed unsafe or unsuitable.

Contra-indications for Reflexology

The following list highlights conditions where reflexology should not be carried out:-

• Acute Infection Present
• Acute Fever Evident
• Acute Inflammation of the Venous System
• DVT
• Acute Inflammation of the Lymphatic System
• Recent Surgery or Awaiting Surgery
• Gangrene
• Extensive Mycotic Infection of the Feet
• Unstable Pregnancy
• Undergoing Cancer Therapy or Treatment
• Poor Healing or Malunion of Bone
   

Reflexology: Origins and Historical Background

The foundation upon which reflexology is based can be traced back to a bygone age, customs and civilisations. Physicians in both China and India have been applying the principles of hand and foot pressure therapy to treat pain and illness for over 5000 years. This concept of traditional medicine is based on observation and experience rather than theory and logic.

The concept of reflexology may have evolved from the basic principles of the Chinese therapy, acupuncture. Modification of acupoints and acupressure techniques have lead to the practitioner using  their thumbs and fingers instead of needles during a treatment to apply the pressure along energy lines, known as  meridians resulting in unblocking the energy and aiding self healing. Chinese academics ideology is based on the fact that energy or ‘chi’ is the element upon which the universe is formed. They believe that the flow of energy in the body is along longitudinal routes known as meridians. This energy is a life force obtained at birth. It is considered to be both essential and beneficial in living. Imbalance of chi leads to illness and disease.

The Egyptians are thought to have practiced a form of foot massage to improve health. Hieroglyphic illustrations depict scenes of foot massage and pressure point treatments were discovered in the tomb referred to as ‘Ankhm’ahor’ Saqqara or the physician’s tomb. These practices are thought to be from as early as sixth dynasty.

Around 460 – 377 BC the Greek physician Hippocrates promoted massage as a form of therapy which relieved pain and induce relaxation. Hippocrates understood that the essence of life and the influences on living permeates natures balance. He advocated that harmony is required in all to maintain good health.

Native American Cherokee Indians have passed down through the generation’s foot treatment techniques to promote healing.

In 1582 Dr. Adamus and Dr. A’tatis from Leipzig had their book relating to zone therapy published.

Sir Henry Head an English Neurologists research on the relationship between application of pressure to the skin and the response on the internal organs was published in 1893.

The 1904 Nobel Prize was awarded to Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov, a Russian scientist, for his research into reflex stimulation, action and response. Russian scientist and physicians continue to study the physiological and psychological response achieved through reflexology.

The concept of Reflex Zone Therapy further progressed from the above theories to establish the basis of modern day reflexology. Dr. William Fitzgerald (1872-1942), an American ENT surgeon, is perceived to be the pioneer of reflex zone therapy. He innovatively uncovered the link between applying pressure to an area of the hand or foot that had an anaesthetic response. He also revealed evidence to suggest stimulation of reflexes produced an analgesic response, nerve blocking consequence, a relaxation role and homeostasis of the area receiving treatment.

Dr. Fitzgerald discovered the idea that the whole body could be divided into 10 longitudinal lines through which energy flows. Each line starts at the mid point of each toe and runs through the body to the head and down through the arm to the thumb or finger tips. There are five on each side of the body. Applying pressure to the feet or hands within a particular line of energy initiate a positive healing response to the organs lying within that zone. In 1917 Dr. Fitzgerald along with Dr. Edwin Bowers published a book called Zone Therapy or Relieving Pain at Home. These books are still in circulation and used as reference for student studying reflexology. 

In the early nineteen hundreds Dr. Joseph Shelby-Riley, a chiropractor, further explored the principles of zone therapy outlined by Dr. Fitzgerald. He investigated not only the zones and reflexes associated with the hands and feet but the concept that they same methodology could be applied to the ear and face. He established the eight horizontal distributions which further clarified the therapy.

Physiotherapist Eunice Ingham, a pupil of Dr. Riley, utilised zone therapy as a treatment. She discovered that there were corresponding responses and / or effect within the organs and body systems from applying pressure solely to specific areas on the feet. She charted her findings and devised a map that highlights this relationship. She promotes that the sensitive nature of the feet and their response to touch make them an ideal tool for triggering healing. She saw this as a therapy that was more than a method specifically for pain control as previously thought by her colleagues.

Doreen Bayly trained along side Eunice Ingham in American. She returned to the UK and developed the principle of reflexology. She opened the first British school of reflexology in 1968.

Eunice Ingham’s nephew Dwight Byers along with fellow students Ann Gillanders and Anthony Porter were the innovators of reflexology in the UK during the seventies. Dwight Byers continues to practice the principles of reflexology handed down by his aunt and predecessor Byers along with Hanna Marquardt are the practitioners responsible for outlining the latitudinal lines which further help locate the position of body organs, structures and reflexes on the feet and hands. In 1979 Ann Gillanders became a director of the International Institute of Reflexology who advocated Eunice Ingham’s method of reflexology. In 1986 she went on to create the Holistic Healing Centre, which is the foundations upon which the modern day British School of Reflexology is founded. In 1999 Simon Mills an Exeter university lecturer for complementary health took over as chairman of all the UK’s reflexology institutes. He was instrumental in establishing the reflexology forum in 2002.

The reflexology forum is the representative body that are currently developing educational standards, and code of conduct and ethics. This is indirect  response to the government and the publics demand for the therapy to be regulated. The aim of the forum is to over see the safety, the efficacy, the quality and set standards to safe guard members of the public who access reflexology. Reflexology has become a popular form of complementary therapy accessed by the public in the UK. Public instinctively identifies reflexology as an alternative or complementary medicine. They appreciate and can differentiate that reflexology is a natural source of healing rather than a conventional method or treatment.

We offer reflexology treatment or massage as a complementary or alternative approach to health, relaxation and healing. We are a  member of the Complementary Therapist Association (CThA) and fully insured by Embody.