Reflexology is the therapeutic healing therapy of applying pressure to specific points on various parts of the body such as the feet, hands and ears. Certain areas on each of these body parts correspond to other parts of the body and vital organs. For reflexology the practitioners main goal is to relax the patient and balance the body’s energy. The dictionary definition of a “reflex” is “an involuntary or instinctive movement in response to a stimulus” (“The History of Reflexology”)
The idea of reflexology is for a practitioner to apply intense pressure to the specific area, hopefully, having a positive effect and healing the corresponding body part. For example, if a client has chronic headaches the practitioners would apply deep pressure to the center of the big toe. Although, reflexology is not used to cure disease, many people use reflexology with other forms of medicine that can help with asthma, anxiety, various cancers, cardiovascular issues, diabetes, headaches, kidney function, and menstrual issues (Teagarden, n.d.). Although, not all practitioners agree on the exact areas on the ear, hands, and feet there are some general similarities on reflex points. Practitioners use reflexology maps to locate the reflex that is for certain body parts. The left foot has the left side of the body and the organs on that side. Whereas, the right foot links with the right side of the body and the organs.
The origin and the history of reflexology is hard to pinpoint but it is clear that it is an ancient practice that has been passed down through many generations. One of the first possible documentations of reflexology was in the Egyptian tomb of Ankhamor in 2330 BC. In addition, North American tribes of Indians are known to have practiced a form of foot therapy for hundreds of years. An example of reflexology being used in the past was, James Abram Garfield, an American president, who used reflexology by applying pressure to his feet to relieve pain. Dr. William Fitzgerald was the father of Zone therapy, which was the prelude into Reflexology. He called his work “Zone Anglesia”, which is where pressure is applied to the zones corresponding to the location of the injury. He also used pressure points on the tongue and the back of the pharynx to relieve pain. Not only did Dr. Fitzgerald find that his technique relieved pain, he also found that it relieved the underlying cause as well. The same result that is from Zone therapy is also experienced through Reflexology. Dr. Shelby Riley worked along side Dr. Fitzgerald to develop Zone Therapy further and added horizontal zones across the hands and feet. In addition, Eunice D. Ingham, a physical therapist, was interested in Zone therapy and worked alongside Dr. Riley. Together they started developing her foot reflex theory in the early 1930’s. Ingham started traveling and giving workshops and people who were extremely sick would be the only ones to show. At the workshop, she would practice on them and eventually, they got better. When more people learned of what was happening at the workshops, the therapy of Reflexology began to be more well-known. In 1968 Dwight Byers and Eunice Ingham taught Reflexology under The National Institute of Reflexology.
Specific techniques and areas of application define the unique therapy that is reflexology in comparison to any other therapy. According to the Reflexology Association of America, there is a code of ethics that all reflexologists must follow. Some of the ethics are: maintain the highest standard of professional conduct, provide services in an ethical and professional manner to their clientele, practice within the professional boundaries of the practitioner’s training, ensure comfort and safety, protect client privacy, respect confidentiality, maintain anonymity, and adhere to RAA scope and stand of practice. Massage therapist should not infringe on the long tradition of reflexology and reflexologists should not infringe on other scopes of therapies that they are not trained in, such as massage, reiki or acupressure. If a reflexologist practitioner worked on areas other than the hands, feet or ears it would constitute infringement on the territory of other practitioners.

Some researchers think that holistic therapies are so far from science that they do not bother doing research studies. The first study was conducted by William T. Jarvis, a professor at Loma Linda University. Moreover, 70 subjects were asked to state whether they had health problems during the previous two years, and this data was then compared to the records from a reflexologist. The results did not differ from what would be expected by just guessing. In this systematic review, by Wang et al wanted to evaluate the efficacy of reflexology. There has been many anecdotal evidence stating that reflexology decreases pain. Of the five total studies, there was only one that had a statistically significance treatment. Treatment effect size for the urinary system was large, whereas, the other condition for other organs was not significant. In another systematic review, by Edzard Ernst wanted to look at the evidence for and against reflexology. Of the 18 randomized controlled trials they all examined a range of conditions: anovulation, asthma, back pain, dementia, diabetes, cancer, headache, irritable bowel syndrome, menopause, multiple sclerosis, and premenstrual syndrome. Accordingly, five of these randomized controlled trials showed positive results.
Overall, there is no sufficient evidence that says that reflexology is not effective, but there is no sufficient evidence that states that reflexology is effective. Reflexology could just be due to the placebo effect or it could be actually have an effect pain management and relaxation. If it does have somewhat of an effect, then it should be used in conjunction with another form of treatment and not as the primary treatment.

References
Ernst, E. (2009). Is reflexology an effective intervention? A systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ Teagarden, K. (n.d.). Reflexology. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu
The History of Reflexology. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2016, from http://www.reflexology-uk.net Wang, Tsai, Lee, Chang, & Yang. (2008). The efficacy of reflexology: Systematic review. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18489444