Reflexology is a non-invasive, integrative wellness and complementary healthcare modality that can be used alone or alongside other medical and therapeutic techniques. It is one of several CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) therapies overseen by the NICCH (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) branch of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

In a reflexology session, the reflexologist uses unique manual techniques to deliver pressure to neural pathways via reflex points in the feet, hands, and outer ears. Through this stimulation of the body’s nervous system, the reflexologist can help the body function more optimally. 

In reflexology practice, it is believed that when pain and dis-ease are present anywhere in the body, the corresponding reflex in the feet, hands, and outer ears can present with tenderness, puffiness, swelling, discoloration, congestion, or the like. A reflexologist feels for these indications of imbalance, working the points in order to help bring the body back to a state of balance and homeostasis. This can facilitate greater circulation of oxygen and nutrients to cell tissues, removal of toxins, and improved flow of blood and lymph. The additional experience of deep relaxation invites the body to restore itself to wellness and, thus, heal itself.

Reflexology is believed to have been around for centuries with evidence of the practice in culture of East and South Asia and First Nation cultures, and images inside the great pyramids in Egypt on the “physician’s tomb”, circa 5000 BC, depict what appear to be people carrying out hand and foot reflexology on each other. It is believed that in the 1300’s AD, Marco Polo brought the practice to Europe when he translated a Chinese massage book into Italian. 

In 1913, Dr. William H. Fitzgerald, an American ear, nose, and throat surgeon, began experimenting with reflexology, applying pressure to points of the feet in order to numb certain parts of the body for minor surgeries without the use of anesthesia.

What we know today as reflexology was pioneered by Eunice Ingham, a American physical therapist, in the 1930s. Ingham built upon Dr. Fitzgerald’s findings, creating foot maps that depicted  points on the feet that related to areas and organs in the body.

In many European and Scandinavian countries today, doctors regularly prescribe reflexology as a stress coping method for their patients. In the last few years, the American medical community, through the evidence of compounding research studies, is beginning to take note of the impact and ability for this modality to help with a whole host of complaints. We in the complementary healthcare professions hope the US will soon be following more closely the example of those nations already better integrating complementary modalities with standard healthcare, utilizing the best of both approaches to health and wellness.