Reflexology is the physical act of
applying pressure to the feet and hands with techniques that do not
utilize oil, cream or lotion. Technique application is assessed on
the basis of zones and reflex areas. (American definition first
published by Kunz and Kunz in 1981.)
Cultures throughout history have created
therapeutic practices of foot work. Foot work is depicted in relics
from ancient Egypt, China, India, and Japan. Relics include a
pictograph from the tomb of the physician in Egypt dating from 2350
B. C. Cleopatra is noted in historical works to have worked on Mark
Anthony's feet (circa 60 B. C.) "Buddha's footprints" depicting stone
carvings of the areas in the soles of the feet are found throughout
Asia. Buddha's footprints are found the Medicine Teacher Temple in
Nara, Japan dating from 790 A. D. Kunz and Kunz have hypothesized
that foot work is an archestructure, a physical demand within the
nervous system that creates the impetus for whole cultures to
practice the activity.
The modern history of dates from the
exploration of the nervous system in the last century. The influence
of one part of the body one another became an object of study.
"Reflex Action as a Cause of Disease and Means of Cure" is an article
published in Brain in England in 1878.Ir describes British physicians
applying an irritation to skin such as blistering or plasters. Sir
Henry Head discusses viscero-cutanel and cutaneo-visceral reflexes in
his work of 1893. A colleague of Pavlov, V. M. Bechterev coined the
term reflexology in 1917.The Russian perception of reflex therapy
evolves from a notion that the afflicted organ is receiving the wrong
instructions from the brain. The goal of Russian reflex therapy is to
interrupt the instructions. In the 1930's, American Eunice Ingham
developed the specific foot working techniques and assessment that
have come to be called reflexology in the US.
©2003 Kunz and Kunz