Massage Continuing Education: Reflexology & Pressure Points
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Fri, Apr 24, 2009 @ 12:26 PM
By Jennifer Shaw, LMT, Marketing
While different forms of working specific pressure-sensitive points on the body, as a theoretically-based method to affect overall health, pain relief and relaxation, have been used all over the ancient world, many believe the origins of modern pressure point theories can be traced back to ancient Egypt - specifically to an Egyptian physician’s tomb.
The Roman Empire seems to have facilitated the spread of these theories to the rest of the ancient world.
Marsha Walker, Lauterstein-Conway's Pressure Points for Healing and Relaxation workshop presenter explains basic pressure point theory by saying there are many pressure point systems that includes points on the feet, hands and other areas of the body. each area has an affect on a corresponding area of the body.
"For example, a point on the foot corresponds to a point in the spine. When pressure is applied to these points, the related part of the body is affected, relaxing tension and helping the body seek its own balance and health."
Walker also says pressure point therapies can also be used as a stand-alone therapy with the client fully clothed, or incorporated into a massage. In a massage setting, working on the pressure point first can relax the corresponding area, making massage techniques more effective.
Pressure Therapies: A Modern History
About 125 years ago, European and Russian physicians continued to use and refine reflex therapy. British physicians used heat, cold, plasters and herbal poultices to a part of the body to affect another part of the body.Russian physicians in the early 1900's were inspired by the Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov including one physician, Vladimir Bekterev, who apparently coined the word "reflexology" in 1917.
Zone Theory, which some say originated in Europe in the late 14th century and, according to the International Institute of Reflexology, furthered by Dr. William H. Fitzgerald, M.D. who studied Native American's use of pressure points on the feet, was the precursor to modern Reflexology. 
Dr. Fitzgerald, was an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist working at the Boston City Hospital and St Francis Hospital in Connecticut in the late 19th century. He called his work Zone Analgesia and is credited for designating the longitudinal zones of the body. He believed pressure could not only relieve pain but also could relieve underlying causes of pain, as well. This is one of the first links to modern Reflexology.
Dr. Shelby Riley, M.D. worked with Fitzgerald, further developing Zone Theory. Riley added horizontal zones on the hands and feet to Fitzgerald's longitudinal zones and, according to the International Institute of Reflexology, was able to determine individual reflexes according to the Zone Theory.
Eunice D. Ingham, a Physical Therapist who worked with Riley, started developing foot reflex theory in the early 1930's. She, according to the International Institute of Reflexology, carefully "checked and rechecked" reflexes and pressure points until she felt she was able to determine that reflexes on the feet were a mirror image of specific organs of the body. Her first book, Stories The Feet Can Tell, documents her cases and maps the reflexes on the feet as they are known today. The book has been translated into seven foreign languages, which allowed the theory to spread worldwide.
After her book was published in 1938, Eunice D. Ingham went on the road teaching her Reflexology theory. In the 1950s and '60s, Ingham was joined by Dwight Byers and Eusebia Messenger, RN, teaching nationwide. Later, Dwight Byers formed The International Institute of Reflexology, where Ingham's Reflexology theories and techniques were further refined.
What is Vita-Flex?
Vita-Flex is a word-meld implying "vitality through the reflexes." It is form of reflexive massage that uses rolling and releasing motions to activates reflex points on the feet, hands and other areas throughout the body. Some believe that the fundamentals of the Vita-Flex massage technique originated in Tibet thousands of years ago. The theory states that there are 1400 Vita-Flex points throughout the body that some believe can release tension, congestion and energetic imbalances.
According to The Real Essentials, the technique was perfected in modern times by Stanley Burroughs. It is based on a complete system of the internal workings of the body and the electrical circuitry inherent to the body and often incorporates aromatic or essential oils.
Note on Scope of Practice: Massage therapists, reflexologists and vita-flex practitioners are not medically trained, and therefore cannot diagnose illness.
MARSHA WALKER, PhD, RN, LMT, is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing. Marsha has taught pressure point therapies, massage, and energy-based therapies since 1978, and is on the faculty of the Lauterstein-Conway School of Massage. She has had a private practice for 30 years in which she incorporates these modalities. Ms. Walker is co-author of Healing Massage: A Simple Approach. Technorati Profile