Fordingbridge & Salisbury
A holistic way to improving your health.
History of Reflexology
​Reflexology is a complementary therapy where massage is used to apply pressure to specific areas within the hands, face and feet to help heal the whole person, not just the prevailing symptoms.
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The treatment dates back thousands of years with origins in Ancient Egypt, China & Greece where pictograph evidence has been found in the tomb of an Egyptian physician at Saqqara, near Cairo, which dates back to 2300BCE
Up until 200BCE reflexology was a treatment of the ancient health spa of Delphi in Greece. It is thought that the documentation and history of reflexology were lost in the burning of the Great Library in Alexandria, Egypt, resulting in the loss of historical records, literature and learning forever.
Reflexology is mentioned through the Middle Ages in Europe; the practice believed to have been handed down orally suggests links between applying pressure to areas of skin effecting the body and providing healing. The start of reflexology as we know it today in the Western World was initially developed by Dr W. Fitzgerald (1872-1942) who was an Ear Nose & Throat Surgeon. He discovered that exerting pressure on the tips of the toes or fingers caused corresponding parts of the body be be anaesthetised. He went on to divide the body into zones and applied pressure to specific areas enabling minor surgery to be carried out without the need for further anaesthetics. His research was continued by Miss E Ingham, a physio therapist who went on to develop the traditional foot maps used today mapping the body's organs.
