You say: "What does this have to do with Reflexology?"

Well, there is a map of the ENTIRE BODY on the soles of the feet, the palms of hands, the ears (Auricular Acupuncture), the irises (Iridology), the teeth (Odontons), etc.. Theory states that there are probably maps on the SURFACE of every organ in the body. The "Homunculus" is the map on the surface of the brain that has been known by medical anatomists for more than 50 years.

Reflexology utilizes the map on the soles of the feet. By massaging (in a certain way) the places on the feet, that correspond to the organs in that location of the map, those organs can be influenced.

Non-Physicians can do Reflexology so, rather than seriously investigate its validity, Physicians tend to see it as competition and call it Quackery. They dismiss, out of hand, any claims of results as "Anecdotal Evidence" which, by definition, is not admissible as evidence. Of course, they similarly dismiss all forms of Acupuncture even though nearly every Medical School in the country FINALLY has an Acupuncturist on the teaching staff. Acupuncture is based on a similar philosophy of how the human is put together.

You will be hearing more about Reflexology now that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is finally seriously investigating it. One of the nice things about Reflexology is the fact that, once a person has had benefits, that person frequently has the motivation to learn how to do it to themselves. This is another reason why it is resisted by the "medical powers that be". Every single thing that has been changed to help patients do things for themselves, that once physicians alone were permitted to do, has been resisted by the AMA.

To give you an idea how effective Reflexology can be; I once had a patient who had solved her own chronic health problems practicing it on herself. Over the years she had gradually spent more, and more time working on her feet. She came to me because she had inexplicably started having her old symptoms again. As she got worse, she did it more and more. It turned out that more is not always better. Simply reducing how much Reflexology she was doing solved her problem again!