Is there a specific hemodynamic effect in reflexology? A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Reflexology claims that the feet are representative of the body and that massage to specific points of the feet increases blood supply to "mapped" organs in the body. This review provides the first systematic evaluation of existing reflexology randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to determine whether there is any evidence to suggest the existence of a reflexology treatment-related hemodynamic effect; to examine whether reflexology researchers used study designs that systematically controlled for nonspecific effects in order to isolate this specific component; and to highlight some of the methodological challenges that need to be overcome to demonstrate specific and beneficial hemodynamic effects.