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The knowledge of Foot Reflex Therapy has been investigated by some curious
minds of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The development
and study of Reflex Therapy was done by the pioneering Europeans and Americans
who laid the foundation for Reflexology as we know it today.
Europe
According to Harry Bressler's book, Zone Therapy, throughout
Europe, a form of Reflexology was known and practiced in the fourteenth
century. In the centers of Europe, Pressure Therapy, was well known and
practiced by the working classes of these countries. A book about Zone
Therapy was published in 1882 by Dr. Adams and Dr. A'tatis.
England
In 1898 Sir Henry of England discovered that areas on the skin became
hyper sensitive to pressure when an organ, connected by nerves to this
skin region, was diseased.
Russia
The Russians have studied reflex and pressure points from a physiological
and psychological point of view since the late 1800s. They have scientifically
tested the effect of Reflex Therapy on patients with a variety of problems
and have found Reflexology to be an effective complement to traditional
medicine.
The American Influence
For generations, the Cherokee Native Americans of North Carolina have
appreciated and applied the practice of reflex-point work on the feet.
They have used this technique as a healing art and acknowledge the importance
of the feet in maintaining physical, mental and spiritual balance. They
also acknowledge that working on the feet is a very important part of
a sacred healing ceremony - the feet are connected through one's spirit
to the earth, thereby to the whole universe, and the energies that flow
through it.
Dr. William Fitzgerald, known as the founder of Zone Therapy, was born
in Connecticut in 1872. He studied medicine and graduated from the University
of Vermont in 1895. Dr. Fitzgerald worked with Dr. Bressler who had explored
the possibility of treating organs with pressure points.
Inspired by Dr. Bressler, Dr. Fitzgerald went further and explored Pressure
Point Therapy on his own. He found that if pressure was applied to the
fingers, it would create an anesthetic effect on the hand, arm and shoulder,
moving to the jaw, face, ear and nose. He used tight bands of elastic
on the midsection of each finger and small clamps on the tips of the fingers.
By doing so, he was able to manage minor surgical operations. Dr. Fitzgerald
found that by dividing the body into 10 zones, with each finger and toe
falling into one zone, effects each correlating area.
Imagine a line drawn through the center of the body from each toe to
the top of your head, running through the arm into each fingertip (see
diagram). The zones have equal width and extend through the body from
front to back. When pressure is applied to any of the zones on the feet,
it affects the particular zone throughout the entire body including the
organs and glands that are located in that zone. Dr. Fitzgerald also discovered,
that by applying pressure with a cotton-tipped probe to the mucous membrane
of the nose, an anesthetic effect resulted, as if cocaine had been applied.
Fitzgerald and his theories were not openly received by the medical profession.
One Colleague, Dr. Riley, used Fitzgerald's theories in practice together
with his wife and they further refined the diagrams of reflexology.
Eunice Ingham
Eunice Ingham was Dr. Riley's assistant and was probably the person who
made the greatest contribution to modern Reflexology today. Ingham kept
researching and developing Reflexology and it was through her that Reflexology
truly came into its own. She separated the theory of the zones into a
whole diagram on the feet representing a map of the entire body.
She worked on the feet using the zones and their related areas of the
body. She also worked from her new diagram and she became so successful
that her reputation spread and she is recognized as the founder of Reflexology.
She traveled throughout the U.S. for over 30 years and taught her method
through seminars, books and charts.
Ingham wrote the following books:
Stories Feet Have Told
Stories Feet Can Tell
To this day her legacy continues under the direction of her nephew, Dwight
Byers, who oversees the International Institute of Reflexology in St.
Petersburg, Florida.
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