The History of Reflexology and the Zone Concept

Zone Therapy, the system upon which modern reflexology is based, was developed in the early 20^th century by an American doctor, William Fitzgerald from Hartford, Connecticut.

A graduate of the University of Vermont, Fitzgerald first worked in Boston City Hospital before two periods abroad, at specialist Ear, Nose and Throat hospitals in London and Vienna. He went on to become a senior nose and throat surgeon at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, and it was here that he first made public his work on Zone Therapy.

It was Fitzgerald's belief that the human body could be divided into ten longitudinal zones, five on each side of the body's median line. Each zone extends from the centre of one of the toes, runs up through the body to the top of the head and out along the arm to the fingers or thumbs.

The zones are numbered one to five on both the left and right sides of the body, radiating out from the middle. Fitzgerald referred to the zone lines as ten invisible currents of energy running through the body, with each line representing the centre of the respective zone. Each zone could be treated by working on either the feet or the hands.

He found that if pressure was applied to any bony part of the body within a particular zone, especially on the hands and feet. Body organs elsewhere in the same zone were affected positively.

Pain caused by an injury somewhere in the zone was relieved and, if pressure was applied firmly enough, a type of localised anaesthesia would occur sometimes causing the injury or problem to disappear completely. Fitzgerald used clamps, combs and pegs, mainly on the hands, to create the desired anaesthetic effect throughout the whole zone.

In 1917, Fitzgerald and a colleague, Dr. Edwin Bowers, published Zone Therapy, or Relieving Pain at Home, a pioneering volume still much used by reflexologists today. In it Fitzgerald also referred to "anatomical correspondences". This refers to the pairing of corresponding parts of the body in terms of reflexology practice for example, hand and foot, wrist and ankle, elbow and knee, upper arm and thigh, shoulder and hip.

If, when treating a patient, a particular area is too sore or damaged to work on for any reason, the reflexologists can work on corresponding area with good effect. In reflexology today, these are termed the "cross reflexes".

Fitzgerald's book on Zone Therapy was followed by several others, written by medical colleagues and students of the great doctor. One such person was Dr. Joseph Shelby-Riley who published twelve books on the subject between 1919 and 1942.

One of Shelby-Riley's students was a young therapist named Eunice Ingham who went on to become a pivotal figure in early reflexology. In the 1930s, Ingham built on Fitzgerald's original zone theory, defining three significant developments that had a major impact on the practical application of the therapy.

First, she introduced usage of the compression method known as "alternating pressure", favouring it over Fitzgerald's application of constant pressure during treatment. This was more of a "press-release" action by the thumb or finger, travelling along the skin in a caterpillar like movement, but without ever losing contact. Ingham felt that this stimulated healing to a far greater effect than the "numbing" technique used previously.

Second, she advocated working primarily on the foot reflexes (above those of the hand) as she found these more sensitive and, therefore, more effective as a treatment.

Finally, and perhaps most important of all, Ingham introduced a detailed foot map showing how the position of the organs of the body are reflected on the feet. "reflex maps" of the feet and hands have been refined over subsequent decades, and should replicate the anatomical arrangement of the body, marking the neurological reflexes to the corresponding organs. In effect the feet and hands act as a micro-system of the body. More than 70 reflex areas have now been identified.

In addition, reflexologist's today work within four transverse divisions of the feet and hands, which are similarly reflected in the corresponding zones of the body. These are known as the "transverse zones" or "guide lines" and were introduced later. They are used as an additional guide for practitioners as to where to work, and they compliment the more detailed reflex maps.

Each body part or system that a reflexologist may wish to treat will always fall within one of these transverse zones that, again, correspond anatomically to a body map. The four zones are divided by imaginary lines, which are described as the shoulder line, diaphragm line, waistline and hip line.

The area above the shoulder line (on the feet and hands) refers to parts of the head and neck; the area between the shoulder and diaphragm lines refers to the upper parts of the body such as the chest, lungs, breast and heart; the area between the diaphragm and the waist lines covers the middle section of the body, including such parts as the liver, gall bladder, kidney, stomach, pancreas, spleen and solar plexus; and the area between the waist and hip lines refers to the intestines, bladder, and pelvic, buttock and lumbar areas.