The word “reflexology” is generic and, in alternativist circles, broadly refers to any method whose essence is the stimulation (especially digital) of areas below the skin (especially of appendages) to benefit a specific part of the body not proximate to the stimulated area. Reflexology, also called “reflexology therapy,” is also an alleged means of diagnosis. It is vitalistic and has ancient roots. Its “reflex points” (also called “reflexes,” “reflex areas,” and “reflex buttons”) and “zones” (also called “reflex zones”) are analogous, respectively, to the “acupoints” and meridians of traditional Chinese medicine.
Forms and variations of reflexology include auricular reflexology, body reflexology, chakra energy massage, the Laura Norman method, the metamorphic technique, the Original Ingham Method™, the reflexology workout, Vita Flex, and zone therapy. Proponent and quasi-proponent identifications of reflexology vary substantially, for example:
zone therapy
a descendant of zone therapy
zone therapy, comprising (1) macroreflexology (e.g., acupressure and acupuncture) and (2) microreflexology (e.g., ear reflexology, foot reflexology, and hand reflexology)
foot reflexology
a type of shiatsu that focuses on the hands and feet
I first experienced foot reflexology in 1993. The practitioner, evidently a teacher of the Laura Norman method, applied lotion to my feet before massaging them. She stated that she generally used lotion even though the method excluded it. The form of reflexology she performed during the one-hour session consisted of manual massage, almost exclusively of the feet. I rather enjoyed it. The reflexologist told me I had “some tightness” in my intestines and remarked that many reflexologists have no compunctions about rendering diagnoses. My second reflexology experience, which I describe below, was very different.
Later that year, the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology published a report of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of reflexology. The authors — Terry Oleson, Ph.D., and William (Bill) Flocco, founder of the American Academy of Reflexology, in Burbank, California – defined reflexology therapy as “the application of manual pressure to reflex points on the ears, hands, and feet that somatotopically correspond to specific areas of the body.” What somatotopic correspondence is, is unclear. According to the report, the objective was to determine whether reflexology, relative to placebo treatment, could significantly reduce premenstrual symptoms. All 35 subjects individually attended one half-hour session per week for eight weeks. “Trained reflexology therapists” pressed specific “reflex points” and two specific acupuncture points of subjects in the “true” group; but, to subjects in the placebo group, they gave “uneven tactile stimulation” to areas (on the same appendages) “not considered appropriate” for the treatment of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
The researchers concluded that their findings “support the use of ear, hand, and foot reflexology for the treatment of PMS.” However, they described the placebo treatment as “either overly light or very rough,” leading me to suspect that it had been tactually inferior to the reflexology performed. (Enlisting nonreflexologist practitioners of a tactual method, such as craniosacral balancing or jin shin do, to treat subjects in the placebo group would eliminate the difficulty the researchers said reflexologists had when they pseudo-treated subjects.) At all events, the study certainly does not validate any theory of reflexology. One of the most cockamamie reflexology theories posits “crystalline deposits” linked to disease: allegedly, crystals form subcutaneously in the “relevant” foot zone when a physical disturbance occurs, and their breakdown relieves the affected part of the body.
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