Zone therapy; or, Relieving pain at home

by Wm. H. Fitzgerald; Edwin F. Bowers

I further found that there were many spots in the nose, mouth, throat, and on both surfaces of the tongue which, when pressed firmly, deadened definite areas to sensation. Also, that pressures exerted over any bony eminence, on the hands, feet, or over the joints, produced the same characteristic results in pain relief. I found also that when pain was relieved, the condition that produced the pain was most generally relieved. This led to my “mapping out” these various areas and their associated connections, and also to noting the conditions influenced through them. This science I have named zone therapy. It is somewhat complicated in many of its aspects, but I shall try and make it as clear as may be. I would emphasize, however, that to master it requires long study and patient application.

In zone therapy we divide the body longitudinally into ten zones, five on each side of a median or central line. (See Figs. [1] and 2.) The first, second, third, fourth and fifth zones begin in the toes and end in the thumbs and fingers, or begin in the thumbs and fingers and end in the toes, if you prefer it this way. For instance, the first zone extends from the great toe up the entire height of the body, including the chest and the back, and down the arm into the thumb. The other digits are related to their particular zones, in like manner.

The tongue is divided into ten zones. Pressure on the dorsal (top) surface of the individual zones on the tongue affect the corresponding anterior (or front) sections of zones everywhere throughout the body. But firm pressures on the tongue, continued for several minutes, affect both back and front zones. The hard and soft palate (forming the roof of the mouth) and the posterior walls of the pharynx (the back of the throat) and epipharynx (where the back of the nose and throat join) are divided in the same way, and posterior pressure or contact affects posterior sections of zones; while anterior pressure or contact affects anterior sections of zones. Traction (or pulling with a hooked probe—see B, Fig. [11]) on the soft palate in the epipharynx affects the anterior zones, and traction on the anterior pillars of the fauces, (pillars in front of the tonsils) affects zones one, two, three, four and five, especially in arms and shoulders in the posterior sections of zones. Pressure on the anterior surface of the lips and the anterior surface of the anterior pillars of the fauces affects the anterior surface of all zones. Pressure on the posterior surface of the lower lips affects the posterior sections of all zones.

Pain in any part of the first zone may be treated and overcome, temporarily at least, and often permanently, by pressure on all surfaces of the first joint of the great toe, or on the corresponding joint of the thumb. Should the pressure be limited to the upper surface of the great toe, the anesthetic or analgesic effects will extend up the front of the body to the fronto-parietal suture—where the bones join on top of the skull. They will also extend across the chest and down the anterior surface of the first zone of the arm and thumb, and often to the thumb side of the index finger. Should pressure be made on the under surface of the great toe, the effects will extend along the first zone in the sole of the foot and up the back of the leg, thigh, body and head in that zone to the above-named suture; also across the back and down the posterior surface of the first zone of the arm and thumb, and frequently the thumb side of the index finger.

Firm pressure on the end of the great toe or tip of thumb will control the entire first zone. Firm pressure on the tips of the fingers or toes control individual zones. Lateral or side pressure on thumbs and fingers or toes will affect lateral or side boundaries of the zones pressed, and also transverse extensions to nostrils, lips and ears.

A limited amount of anesthesia may often be established by pressure over any resistant bony surface, in any zone compressed, and often the mere momentary contact with the galvanic cautery, or pressure with a sharp-pointed applicator, or with the thumb or finger-nail, will produce the same result. Contacts, especially with aluminum combs or pointed instruments, may be momentary, if frequently repeated, but protracted contacts are often necessary.

Prolonged pressure with an aluminum hair comb is fast becoming a popular method, but similar pressures with the nails of the thumbs and fingers are likely the method Nature intended. Pressure with bands of elastic, metal, cloth, or leather on the fingers, toes, wrists and ankles, as well as on the knees and elbows, are often useful in overcoming pain in an individual zone or group of zones. If these pressures are resisted by pathological processes elsewhere in the zone or zones, pain is sometimes excited. In other words, if there is an abscess or some active inflammatory condition present,—as in middle-ear trouble, pressure often aggravates or stimulates the pain to renewed endeavors. It usually however, overcomes the pain momentarily. Zone pressure has, for this reason, become a diagnostic factor of great value in disclosing hidden pus conditions or inflammatory processes—particularly in the roots of teeth, the ears, appendix, ovaries, or in other organs.

Pain anywhere in any zone may be overcome more quickly by pressure with an applicator, or with cautery contact at certain points throughout the corresponding zone or zones in the mouth, pharynx, epipharynx and nose; but the finger and toe pressures may be relied upon very often. What applies to one zone applies to all.