A Brief Introduction to Chapman's Reflexes

What are Chapman's Reflexes?
Chapman’s Reflexes are a series of points that can help stimulate normal function in the lymphatic and endocrine systems. Most of these points are located on the front of the body between the ribs next to the sternum and on the back along the spine between the spinous processes and the tips of the transverse processes.

Easily palpated, these points can help restore the circulation of lymph and support the endocrine glands to supply the optimum amount of hormones that are necessary to the biological function of every cell in the body. Chapman's reflexes have influenced a number of developments including: Travell's Myofascial Trigger Points, Eunice Inghams' Reflexology, and Dr. George Goodheart's Applied Kinesiology.

How was Chapman's Reflexes developed?
Frank Chapman, D.O., discovered the "Chapman reflexes" in the early part of the 20th century. He found that there were specific points on the body that when stimulated had a positive effect on many kinds of health conditions. He believed that these points excited sympathetic nerve fibers that can cause specific lymph vessels to increase or decrease their function. He correlated these reflexes with specific organs and illnesses.

Chapman graduated from the American School of Osteopathy in 1897 and began locating and working with reflex points in 1901. He diligently kept notes and case studies over twenty years, eventually documenting over 200 separate and distinct reflexes. After Chapman's death, his wife Ada Hinckley Chapman, DO, and his brother in law, Charles Owen, D.O., gathered together Chapman's materials in a book released in 1932. The book was full of charts and recipes for locating and using Chapman's Reflex Points to stimulate the lymphatic system.

At the time of Chapman’s death Owen “had but little opportunity for more than a cursory experience” with the reflexes. After working with the reflexes for a five years Owen put out a revised version of the book along with his own findings entitled An Endocrine Interpretation of Chapman's Reflexes in 1937. Owen focused on the effect of specific reflexes on the endocrine system and the many health problems resolved by appropriate treatment.

Owen also added his discovery that he called the “pelvic thyroid syndrome.” He found that imbalances of the pelvis could directly affect endocrine function. In particular, imbalance of the pelvis was associated with dysfunction in the ovary/testes reflexes causing an imbalance in the thyroid gland and the rest of the endocrine system. This meant that by restoring pelvic balance and stimulating related Chapman Reflexes, normal endocrine function could return.

I sell the Chapman's book in my Massage Supply Store (210-967-4400 or naturalreflexes@aol.com) or you can contact the American Academy of Osteopathy (317-879-1881). We also teach a class in Chapman's Reflexes at our Continuing Education School in San Antonio.

See the post below for a story about using Chapman's reflexes.

Just Got A Glimpse of the Power of Chapman's Reflexes

One of my students sent this story to me. Its worth posting here.

I just finished a bodywork session in which the use of Chapman’s reflexes played a starring role.

The daughter of a friend of mine had been having problems with her lower right leg - Last Tuesday it started itching in one particular spot (She described it as feeling like a spider bite, but there were no marks), then became inflamed and discolored, at which point she began running a fever. She went to the emergency room and underwent a series of tests to determine what was going on.

The results were inconclusive: Infection and allergies were ruled out, also ruled out were blood-related issues such as embolisms, DVT, and phlebitis. She was told to take Advil to bring down the swelling and the fever. The fever broke the next day but her leg stayed slightly swollen, discolored, and painful.

The daughter happened to visit my friend (her mother) while I was also visiting, and they asked if I might be able to help.

At first I was a little nervous about working on her, but since nothing had been found and she had been released from doctor’s care I decided to go ahead. Since this was unplanned, I had the daughter lay on my friend’s bed. Her leg was slightly reddish, swollen, edematous, and cold. There was also an area that looked like a chemical burn which Janet (the daughter) said was caused by putting Neosporin on the original itch.

All I did was place my fingertips lightly on the tibial attachment of the right sartorius (in other words, just under the right knee on the inside) since that’s one of the points listed in the Chapman’s book (p. 88) and it fit her symptoms (the poor circulation). I just left my fingers there for about 2 minutes, and her leg suddenly went to normal – The swelling went away, the temperature and color returned to normal, and the pain vanished, and even the “burned” area began to look normal. When I re-checked for edema it was gone completely, and when I touched a particular spot on her shin (about mid-shin), her tibia and fibula self-adjusted (the original seat of disturbance, perhaps?).

I’m not sure who was more amazed at the results – My friend and her daughter, who had never heard of Chapman’s Reflexes before, or myself. I knew Chapman’s was good, but I didn’t realize it was that good - To clear up something like that in only 2 minutes is just amazing! My friend kept saying it was a miracle, and I kept saying “No, it’s education.”

I followed up by suggesting she see a dermatologist and/or an allergist – One, to try to find out if she’s got some kind of contact allergy that may have set her off, and two, because the Neosporin shouldn’t have caused that kind of reaction unless she is allergic to one of its ingredients.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this experience with y’all – I thought you might find it interesting.
--Monica XXXX, San Antonio, Texas.

History of Osteopathy

In second half of the 19th century Andrew Taylor Stills, D.O. (1828-1917) evolved from a conventional physician to become founder of a new kind of healing modality that initially challenged orthodox medicine. During his life he was influenced by: homeopathy, magnetic healing, bone setting, and various popular health movements. Yet, despite these influences Still developed principles and methods that were uniquely his own. He began calling his work Osteopathy in 1874.

Dr. Still’s contributions included a new emphasis on the alignment of vertebrae and bones in the healing process and a theory of disease that focused on obstructions or imbalances in the spine as the central factor in illness. According to A.T. Still it was the disruption of the vital flow of fluids that led to disease. He believed that re-alignment of the spine could be used to treat all illnesses. Throughout his life he fought against the use of drugs, which he thought of as more toxic to the body than helpful. He believed that the body was capable of healing itself when the source of obstructions or imbalances was corrected.

He stated that his practice of medicine would be based on three principles:

1. The body produces its own healing substances
2. Health is dependent upon structural integrity
3. Perverted structure is a fundamental cause of disease.

He asked his followers to be witnesses to the wonders of the human body in both structure and function. Dr. Still fully believed that healers could only heal through an ongoing attempt to commune with the divine intelligence within all of our cells and structures.