An American doctor, William Fitzgerald, visited both Vienna and London at this time. While he was in Vienna, Dr Fitzgerald read the papers on pressure therapy which led him to research these theories further. It was this research that led him to refine the zone theory. Dr Fitzgerald’s theory dissects the body into 10 equal zones. He believed that all the body parts within a given zone were linked by an energy flow which gave them the ability to affect each other. Dr Fitzgerald tested this theory when he performed minor operations. He found that he could anaesthetise the area of the body he wished to operate on by applying pressure to certain other points. He developed his theory into precise notes on the pain relief and curative effects of his zone therapy treatments. With colleague Dr Edwin Bowers, Dr Fitzgerald wrote a book entitled “Zone therapy relieving pain at home”.
This book impressed other medical practitioners in America and they incorporated his theories into their treatments. Dr and Mrs Riley were so impressed with Fitzgerald’s zone therapy that they took it one stage further, by producing detailed diagrams of the reflex points on the feet. In 1919 Dr Riley wrote a book called “Zone therapy simplified”.
Dr Riley had an assistant called Eunice Inhram, who learnt his simplified zone therapy. Eunice altered the therapy in line with her own findings. What developed was the Inham method, which is what modern reflexology is based on. The major insight that Eunice brought to the theory was that she concentrated on the feet, which lead her to develop more accurate diagrams of the reflex points of the feet. These are known as foot maps.
In the 1960s an English woman called Doreen Bayly visited the USA and was taught the “Inham Method” by Eunice Inham. Doreen then brought the technique back to England, where she taught and practised.