Results of the study, first published in a European medical journal,
re-published in the newsletter Reflexology Across America, Fall/Winter 1999-2000.

An Austrian clinic has used sonography to show that renal (pertaining to the kidney) blood flow was affected by organ-associated foot reflexology.  In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized study published in June 1999, the University Clinic for Internal Medicine in Innsbruck, Austria, used sonography to measure blood flow changes during foot reflexology.  A treatment group and a placebo group were composed of 32 healthy young adults.  The treatment group received foot reflexology applied to the zone associated with the right kidney.  The placebo group had other zones treated.

Sonography (the use of ultrasound to produce an image of an organ) measured the blood flow of three vessels of the right kidney before, during and after foot reflexology.  Results showed a significant decrease of flow resistance in renal blood vessels and an increase in renal blood flow in the treatment group as opposed to the placebo group, supporting the theory that organ-associated foot reflexology can effectively change renal blood flow during therapy.

Dave Jenkins, past president of the Reflexology Association of America, stated that the study results reflect positively on the profession.  Reflexologists try to normalize blood flow, and the results indeed showed that reflexology initiates changes in blood flow, he said.
 
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