Chapman’s reflexes are a series of points that can help stimulate normal function in the lymphatic and endocrine systems.  Restoration of these two systems to their natural functioning has a profound impact on our natural balance. They also help to find hidden connections between painful symptoms.

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. By creating a map of these points we can often discover hidden connections between painful symptoms and conditions.  Chapman's reflexes have influenced a number of developments including: Travell's Myofascial Trigger Points, Eunice Ingham's Reflexology, and Dr. George Goodheart's Applied Kinesiology.

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. 1 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. 2 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.

Chapman’s reflexes affect the endocrine and lymphatic systems. The glands of the endocrine system and the hormones they release influence every cell, organ and function of our bodies. The endocrine system is instrumental in regulating mood, growth and development, tissue function, and metabolism as well as sexual function and reproductive processes. The endocrine system is very active when we are in danger releasing the hormones that help our bodies react.  The hormones move through the circulatory and enter the interstitial fluids the surround all of our cells.

The lymphatic system is an “extensive network” of vessels, nodes, and tissues that transport interstitial fluids throughout the body, removes toxins, proteins, chemicals, and other elements that need to be moved out of tissue spaces. The lymphatic system also helps defend the body against invasion by disease-causing agents such as viruses, bacteria, or fungi.  Harmful foreign materials are filtered out by small masses of tissue called lymph nodes that lie along the network of lymphatic vessels.

Chapman theorized that lymphatic stasis in the organ produced the irritation that created reflex phenomenon at tender points. 3 He believed that stimulation of specific reflex points excites sympathetic nerve fibers that can cause specific lymph vessels to increase or decrease their function.  This affects the drainage of lymph in specific areas and throughout the lymphatic system affecting specific organs and tissues and potentially all the body systems.

Owen stressed the importance of the endocrine dysfunction he called the, “pelvis-thyroid-adrenal syndrome.” 4 Owen believed that imbalances of the pelvis could directly affect endocrine function. “The pelvic structural lesion causes gonad dysfunction which in turn by way of the adrenals and pituitary perverts the function of the thyroid,” causing metabolic disturbances.  When the endocrine glands are out of balance you have “incomplete oxidation in each body cell, body fluids move more slowly and lymphatic engorgement with retention of toxins follows.” 5 Owen recommended correction of the pelvic bones along with proper stimulation of specific reflex points to improve endocrine function.

 

Today, there is no solid scientific basis for the Chapman’s Reflex or how they work physiologically.  There are, however, some indications that Chapman was correct:

"While its cellular structure has yet to be described, the anatomic location of a Chapman’s reflex is predictable and consistent.  These anatomical sites are typically viserosomatic representation in our on somatic structures. This suggests that the sympathetic nervous systems may play an important role in the generation and maintenance of the reflexes.  It further suggests that treatment of the reflexes may alter sympathetic influences on any related viscus." 6