What Is Reflexology & How Can It Help Me?

Reflexology uses the foot as a map of the entire body. Pressing specific parts of the foot is believed to help heal problems in a related, yet distant area.

Foot reflexology in the United States began with the work of William Fitzgerald, M.D., who practiced in Connecticut during the early years of the 20th century. His technique was based on ancient practices that applied pressure to hands, ears, or feet to revive energy flow and bring about homeostasis (balance). His system uses the foot. The foot became a map of the whole body, each part relating to a specific body area.

Reflexology involves treatment as well as diagnosis. Fitzgerald theorized that the body is divided into ten equal zones that run from head to toe. With his system, which was initially called zone therapy, gentle pressure to certain points on the feet seemed to relieve pain in a particular area of the body. In the 1930s, American nurse and physiotherapist Eunice Ingham developed detailed maps of the feet that included what she termed reflex points which link spots on each foot to specific body parts. Reflexology spread quickly throughout the United States and Europe. Most reflexologists working in the United States today have been trained in Ingham's method.

Reflexology is a system of applying pressure to the foot. It is not a massage. Instead, the practitioner's thumb, fingers, and palms apply pressure to specific reflex points on the foot. Reflexologists believe that each part of the foot relates to its own part of the body. By applying pressure to a reflex point, the corresponding body organ or area is affected. Reflex points are on the soles, tops, and sides of the feet. The points on the right foot correspond to the right half of the body, and those on left foot correspond to the left half of the body.

Although people can perform reflexology on themselves after learning about the reflex points and pressure techniques, it usually is performed by a trained reflexologist. In a typical session, the patient lies on a massage table while the reflexologist gently massages each foot, and then begins treatment by systematically applying pressure to its reflex points.

Treatments last from thirty minutes to an hour. According to practitioners, patients may experience tingling sensations in areas of the body that correspond to reflex points as those points on the foot are pressed. Reflexology is not painful.

Reflexology advocates believe that this approach can increase energy flow to the organs that correspond to the reflex points and increase the vitality of those organs. By increasing the vitality of the internal organs, practitioners believe they can improve patients' health. They claim that reflexology can reduce stress and tension, improve circulation, eliminate toxins, and bring the body into a state of balance conducive to good health.

Reflexology is recommended by proponents as a means of alleviating the symptoms of some chronic ailments, such as headaches, asthma, and bowel problems. It does not claim to cure illnesses.

There are two linked beliefs on which reflexology is based. One is that reflex points exist on the foot, and that these reflex points can influence health in distant organ systems and parts of the body to which they are linked. The second is that the body contains an invisible life force, or subtle energy, similar to the concept of qi (chee) in Chinese medicine. Reflexologists believe that by stimulating reflex points on the foot, they can unblock and increase the flow of this energy throughout the body.

Some reflexology advocates have offered hypotheses to explain the action of this subtle energy, or to interpret reflexology in physiological terms. They believe that energy travels from the nerve endings in the foot to the spinal cord, where it is disbursed to all parts of the body. Some advocates claim that reflexology releases endorphins, which are natural pain-blocking chemicals released by the brain. Others claim that reflexology detoxifies the body by dissolving crystals of uric acid that settle in the feet.

Study shows that reflexology could contribute to headache relief. In addition, patients who received reflexology following gynecologic surgery needed less medication to maintain bladder function. None of the beliefs and concepts on which reflexology is based, such as the idea of subtle energy, has been proven. The major underlying hypothesis that pressure applied to the foot improves health is also not documented.

Reflexology can promote relaxation and feelings of well-being. Although reflexology is not a proven method of treating disease, its potential relaxation benefits are obtained inexpensively and easily, especially because the technique can be self-administered. Overall, reflexology is a gentle, noninvasive technique, free of side effects.