The Complete Guide to Reflexology, Second Edition

Ruth Hull

• Publisher: Lotus Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781913088248
• Topic: Medicina
• Subtopic: Medicina alternativa e complementare

Written in a clear, no-nonsense style, this is the ideal textbook for students of reflexology up to levels 2 and 3

1

What is Reflexology?

Introduction

Reflexology is a gentle, non-invasive therapy that encourages the body to balance and heal itself. It involves applying finger or thumb pressure to specific points on the hands and feet. These points are called ‘reflexes’ and they reflect, or mirror, the organs and structures of the body as well as a person’s emotional health. In this way, the hands and feet are ‘mini maps’ or ‘microcosms’ of the body that can be used to encourage holistic healing.

Reflexology is a holistic therapy and the term ‘holistic’ is derived from the Greek word holos, meaning ‘whole’. Holistic therapies such as reflexology are based on the idea that health is the result of harmony between the body, mind and spirit. Stresses of any kind, be they physical, psychological, social or environmental, can upset this balance and cause ‘dis-ease’.

In this chapter you will learn more about what reflexology is, where it comes from and how it works.

Student objectives

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

• Describe the history of reflexology

• Explain the theory of reflexology

• Describe the different theories as to how reflexology works

• Explain how stress affects our bodies and how reflexology can help counteract the effects of stress

• Describe the benefits of reflexology

• Explain when it is not advisable to give reflexology treatments.

History of Reflexology

Ancient times: Egypt, China, India

Healing the body through working the hands and feet is an ancient art that was practised in a number of early cultures. The earliest evidence of hand and foot massage was discovered in Egypt in the tomb of Ankhmahor at Saqqara. The tomb dates back to approximately 2330 BC and is sometimes referred to as the ‘physician’s tomb’ because of all the medical reliefs it contains. Some of these reliefs depict people receiving hand and foot massages, asking that the massages ‘give strength’ and also ‘do not cause pain’.

The ancient Chinese worked the hands and feet to help maintain good health and prevent disease. They developed traditional Chinese medicine, which incorporates acupuncture, acupressure, herbalism and exercise and is based on the medical text Huang-di Nei-jing, or the Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor. This text, commonly referred to as the Nei-jing, is thought to have been compiled between 300 and 100 BC (Kaptchuk, 1983).

Fundamental to traditional Chinese medicine is the theory that one’s ‘vital energy’, or ‘life force’, runs through 14 major meridians, or channels, in the body. Twelve of these meridians either begin or end in the tips of the fingers and toes, and massage to these areas stimulates the flow of energy and clears congestion in the meridians, thus encouraging harmony in the body. Turn to chapter 5 to explore the meridians and reflexology in more depth.

Infobox

In perspective

A well-known example of how a zone on the body can reflect the health of an organ is when the pain produced by a heart attack is felt as though it is coming from the left arm. The explanation for how this occurs is quite simple – sensory nerves from the skin, muscles and organs enter the spinal cord together as bundles, or plexuses, and often share nerve pathways in the spinal cord. Pain that is felt in a different part of the body to where it is produced is known as referred pain.

Referred pain

Evidence of working the hands and feet to improve health is also found in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurveda developed in India and is considered to be the oldest recorded system of healing, dating back approximately 5000 years. Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word meaning the ‘science of life’ (Bradford, 1996) and it encompasses not only physical health, but also spiritual and emotional well-being. Foot massage (padabhyanga) plays a significant role in Ayurvedic medicine.

In addition to the ancient cultures of Egypt, China and India, the importance of massaging the hands and feet to ensure good health was passed down through the oral traditions of Native American and African tribes.

Zone therapy: Dr William Fitzgerald

Reflexology is based on the theory that the body can be divided into zones and that imbalances in one part of a zone can be addressed through working another part of the zone. This is a very old concept that was first written about in the sixteenth century, when two European doctors, Dr Adamus and Dr Atatis, published a book on the subject.

In the 1890s an English neurologist, Sir Henry Head (1861–1940), discovered that certain areas or ‘zones’ of the skin reflected the state of specific internal organs, and that if there was an illness in an organ there would be sensitivity or pain in its corresponding zone on the skin. These zones became known as ‘Head zones’. He also discovered that massage, heat application or injections to the skin zone could help the internal organ.

Another Englishman, Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (1857–1952), undertook pioneering work in neurophysiology which paved the way for our understanding of the nervous system and reflexes. Sherrington was a physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine in 1932 for his work on neurophysiology, especially spinal reflexes and the physiology of perception, reaction and behaviour. He also published The Integrative Action of the Nervous System.

Although Head discovered the skin zones of the body, it was an American surgeon, Dr William Fitzgerald (1872–1942), who founded zone therapy as we know it today. Fitzgerald was the senior ear, nose and throat surgeon at St Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, as well as a physician at the Boston City Hospital, and had experience working in hospitals in both London and Vienna. In his work Fitzgerald discovered that the body could be divided into ten zones and that he could alleviate pain in one area of a zone by applying deep pressure to another area of the zone, usually on the hand. He went as far as being able to perform minor operations without the use of anaesthetics by applying pressure to specific points on his patients. Whilst doing this, Fitzgerald discovered that pressure to specific points not only anaesthetised corresponding areas, it also removed the cause of the pain and so ‘healed’ the patient.

Did you know?

Dr William Fitzgerald used some remarkable aids to apply pressure to his patients’ hands – he used metal combs, elastic bands, clamps and even clothes pegs.

Dr William Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald worked closely with a colleague, Dr Edwin Bowers, and together they became the forefathers of modern reflexology. They wrote a number of publications on zone therapy, including To Stop That Toothache Squeeze Your Toe (Bowers) and Zone Therapy or Relieving Pain at Home (Bowers and Fitzgerald). In 1917 their book Zone Therapy was published. Together, Fitzgerald and Bowers ‘developed a unique method of convincing their colleagues about the validity of the zone theory. They would apply pressure to the sceptic’s hand then stick a pin in the area of the face anaesthetised by the pressure. Such dramatic proof made believers of those who witnessed it’ (Dougans, 1996, p. 52).

The American physician Dr Joseph Shelby Riley and his wife Elizabeth further developed zone therapy and published a number of books on the subject. Working with Riley was a therapist called Eunice Ingham, and it was she who finally developed what we know as modern reflexology.

Did you know?

Today zone therapy is still practised and taught as a therapy in its own right, separate from reflexology. One of the great masters of zone therapy is the Englishman Joseph Corvo, who believes ‘the system is as old as the human race, that it is a natural instinct to put your hand on a painful part and press it, and that it not only relieves the effect but also removes the cause [of the pain]’ (Crane, 1997, p. 25).

From zone therapy to reflexology: Eunice Ingham

Eunice Ingham

Eunice Ingham (1889–1974) is often referred to as the ‘mother of modern reflexology’. She took Fitzgerald’s theory of zone therapy and used it to develop reflexology. Through her experiences she discovered that once you place the ten zones of the body onto the feet you can then place all the organs and structures of each body zone into the corresponding zone on the foot. In her own words, Ingham used zone therapy as ‘a principle of dividing the body into ten zon...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: What is Reflexology?
• Chapter 2: Foot Reflexology
• Chapter 3: Hand Reflexology
• Chapter 4: Applied Reflexology
• Chapter 5: Meridian Therapy
• Chapter 6: Diseases and Disorders
• Chapter 7: Clinical Practice
• Chapter 8: Exploring Reflexology and Other Complementary Therapies
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index