Background: Reflexology, a structured system of applying pressure to specific reflex points on the feet, hands, and ears, is frequently attributed cultural antecedents to ancient Greek medicine. However, the relationship between Hippocratic therapeutic practice and modern reflexology is largely one of philosophical kinship rather than direct lineage.
Objective: This review examines the manual foot therapies documented in ancient Greek medical texts, analyses the conceptual divide between humoral theory and modern zone therapy, and traces the evolution of reflexology into contemporary Greek clinical environments.
Methods: A systematic narrative review of primary Greek medical texts, secondary historiographic analyses, and peer-reviewed clinical studies published between 1980 and 2024 was conducted.
Conclusions: Ancient Greek medicine established a holistic framework for foot-based manual therapy that prefigured, but did not directly originate, modern reflexology. Contemporary Greek clinical practice has integrated reflexology into palliative and supportive care, meriting further controlled investigation.