*In 1017 Dr. Wang Wei, one of the founders of acupuncture, recommended massage to the   soles of the feet to stimulate the flow of energy in the body.

  *In the 16th century, the famous Florentine sculptor Benvenuto Cellini was treated with pressure on the feet and hands to relieve pain.

  *In the 19th century, U.S. President Garfield was also treated with similar pressure treatments to relieve the effects of an assassination attempt.

  *In the 20th century, Dr. William Fitzgerald founded Zone Therapy which divided the body into 10 zones. When pressure was applied anywhere in a zone then all of the organs in that zone are affected.

  The modern history of Reflexology is rooted in research about the reflex in Europe and Russia 125 years ago. The idea that a stimulus applied to the body produces a response was utilized as a therapeutic tool by British physicians and researchers who applied heat, cold, plasters,  and herbal poultices to one part of the body to influence another. The furthering of such ideas for therapeutic use continued in Germany and Russia throughout this century.

  Russian physicians of the early 1900's followed the reflex research of Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov to create reflex therapy. Their basic idea, to influence reflexes and thus brain-organ dynamics, survives as a medical practice today. To physician/researchers, such as Vladimir Bekterev who coined the term "Reflexology" in 1917, an organ experiences illness because it receives the wrong operating instructions from the brain. By interrupting the body's misguided instructions, the reflex therapist prompts the body to behave in a better manner. Conditioning of better behavior is achieved by the application of a series of such interruptions.

  The north American pioneer for reflexology was Dr. William Fitzgerald MD., an ear-nose -throat specialist in Connecticut. In 1913, he became interested in Zone Therapy, the practice of alleviating pressure on specific parts of the body. Since then American Doctors in New York and Los Angeles have explored the use of Reflexology as a complementary therapy in the treatment of their patients. In the early 1930's therapy assistant Eunice Ingham designated that because the human foot has a high degree of sensitivity, this area should receive therapeutic massage treatment. Today, Reflexology is gaining acceptance by a growing number of therapists and medical professionals who are seeking complementary forms of therapy for their patients.

American physiotherapist Eunice Ingham kept alive a specific practice, that of foot reflexology. She accomplished this by traveling around the country teaching groups of people, perpetuating a grassroots enthusiasm for the subject in the U.S. A community of Reflexology users emerged.

The idea gained informal sanctioning in the U.S. on a community level. Since then, practicing Reflexologists have emerged, some 30 Reflexology books have been published, and the number of magazine articles published has climbed by 500 percent since 1982. Television appearances by Reflexologists have increased by 500 percent since 1988.

  Eunice D Ingham (1889-1974)

              A physiotherapist further developed the Zone Theory and later went on to develop the "Ingham Compression Method" which is the basis of modern Reflexology. She realized that, other than anesthesia, long-term effects could be produced.

      She found that an alternating pressure was more powerful than a continuous one and that the greatest impact could be produced by pressure on the hands and feet (especially the feet). Through research with hundreds of patients she mapped the feet.

  Eunice Ingham used to treat her nephew, Dwight Byers, for asthma and he joined her to spread the word about the benefits of Reflexology. Dwight went on to found the International Institute of Reflexology when his Aunt died in 1974 at the age of 85. He is still an active advocate for the Original Ingham Method of Reflexology.