[Reflexology--nothing in common with scientific naturopathic treatments]

Versicherungsmedizin. 2009 Sep 1;61(3):129-35

Authors: Heide M, Heide MH

A host of alternative treatment methods are sold to us as reputable science on the "supermarket of naturopathy" nowadays. "Foot zone therapy", also known as "reflexology" is one of them. Advocates of reflexology claim that certain zones of the feet are linked to internal organs; that "energy forces" run throughout the human body. According to the teachings of Ayurveda and Yoga, a network of more than 72,000 nerve tracts (energy tracts = meridians) is linked to a single, tiny point on the feet, where the energy ends. In reality, however, reflexology is an unconventional, alternative, paramedical and esoterical "outsider" method that has nothing in common with serious naturopathic treatments. Any scientific value to reflexology is to be denied. As opposed to reflexology, genuine, scientifically acknowledged naturopathic methods are not an alternative, but a supplement to modern medicine.

PMID: 19860172 [PubMed - in process]

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