The origin of reflexology can be traced back 5000 years to the countries of Japan, China, India, and Egypt. The oldest document found detailing reflexology was found in an Egyptian tomb of a medical doctor. Included in this find were six pictographs. These pictographs included the following:

Childbirth - Circumcision - Embalming

Pharmacology - Dentistry - Reflexology

Reflexology became popular in western cultures during the last century due in large part to the efforts of two people. In 1902, a Boston City Hospital doctor named Dr. Fitzgerald hypothesized that 10 vertical lines or zones run through the body from head to toe. He coined the term “zone therapy” after theorizing that all organs in a zone are affected by working any reflex in that zone, as well as working the specific reflex thought to stimulate a specific organ. Dr. Fitzgerald detailed his findings in a book written in 1917.

After reading Dr. Fitzgerald's book, a young therapist named Eunice Ingham became obsessed with the zone theory. In the early 1930s, she decided to investigate. Ingham theorized that if Dr. Fitzgerald had such good results with just using the hands, what kinds of results might she get using the feet?

The feet, which are the most sensitive part of the body, have over 7000 nerve endings. Ingham mapped out and charted what is now known as the Original Ingham Method of Reflexology®, which is the most widely used method of reflexology in use today. Over the next 40 years, Ingham lectured, taught, and wrote three books on reflexology. Her legacy lives on today at the International Institute of Reflexology located in St. Petersburg, Florida under the leadership of nephew Dwight Byers.