When you are looking for a therapist that can address your needs, bear in mind that you are looking for the person with the right amount of training and the right amount of experience and exposure to the therapy. This is critical because there are a number of pseudo-therapists out there that says they are competent, but if you check their credentials then you will learn that they only attended a crash course in reflexology. Tracing The History Of Reflexology Just how old is the practice of reflexology? If you are going to trace the history of this therapy, then you will learn that this practice has been in existence for the past thousands of years. And this practice can be traced to a number of places like in India, China and even Egypt. William Fitzgerald pioneered applying therapeutic pressure to particular areas in the foot to cut throbbing in other parts of the body, which enabled him to apply less anaesthesia to his patients when performing minor surgical operations. Calling his method "zone therapy," the doctor concluded that applying physical pressure to certain points in the body particularly the digits of our toes as well as our fingers lessens the feeling of discomfort by the patient to the point that the routine can be solely used as an effective substitute to anaesthesia. But here's the thing; reflexology is not recommended at all times. There are some instances when reflexology will have to wait or should be rescheduled for safety reasons. Learn these instances in order to avoid headaches and serious problems in the end. Did you know that reflexology on the foot is not recommended for someone with fractures and with wounds? The patient may prefer to have a hand reflexology or foot reflexology, those who are ticklish need not be alarmed because the pressure applied on the foot will be firm and not feathery. For a regular relaxing reflexology, the therapist would massage the entire hand or foot methodically ensuring that all pressure points have been given proper attention. The difference between the Western reflexology and Ayurvedic reflexology is that the Western practice follows a map with several pressure points for each body part and internal organ whereas the Ayurvedic practice only has five major areas that cover the basic human anatomy. Both traditional reflexology principles warn against improper use of reflexology.