Modern reflexology is based on an ancient form of massage healing therapy. There is evidence of some form of foot & hand therapy being practised in China as long ago as 4,000 B.C. and also at the same time in Egypt, as depicted in the tomb of Ankmahor.
Egyptian wall painting from Ankmahor,
a physician's tomb dating back to
c.2330BC depicting Reflexology
The North American tribes of Indians are thought to have practised a form of foot therapy for hundreds of years. Reflexology dates back over 5,000 years, when ancient civilisations in Egypt, China & Japan amongst others found far-reaching healing benefits to the rest of the body when massaging certain points on the hands & feet. Interest in these ancient therapies was renewed toward the end of the 19th Century in conjunction with advances in neurological research in the UK & USA.
These findings continued to be developed in the early part of the 20th Century by an American ear, nose & throat specialist, Dr William Fitzgerald, who discovered that pressure applied to one part of the body could have an anaesthetising effect in another area of the body. He went on to develop zone therapy in which the body is divided into ten vertical zones ending in the fingers & toes, & concluded that pressure on one part of a zone could affect anything else within that zone. This was ground-breaking as it demonstrated how conditions within the body such as spinal problems, digestive disorders, hormonal related conditions could be treated in a
non-intrusive way by massaging corresponding reflex points on the outside of the body. These findings ware further researched as the 20th Century progressed – therapists concentrated on the feet – and eventually culminated in the birth of modern reflexology in the 1930’s.
Reflexology was introduced to the UK in the 1960s & since then has grown in popularity. Reflexology is now widely acknowledged for its far-reaching healing abilities & has grown to be one of the most widely practised complementary therapies today.
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