Iridology is a kind of method for determining the overall state of the body and its level of health with reference specifically to various “zones” of the iris which should not be confused with accepted disease science. Iridology is a tradition for making scientific and medical pronouncements which, in the modern context of scientifically tested and proven theories and remedies, belongs instead to the realm of alternative medicine. For this reason, people who decide to use iridology as a way for responding to a specific medical condition which they believe to have developed, or as a means of carrying out an overall diagnosis, should be aware that this method is not a substitute for other diagnostic tools used in the context of the medical establishment.

Iridology involves the examination of the iris. In particular, the belief and its practitioners hold that different areas of the iris correspond to the state of health of different areas of the body, with changes indicated by colors and other visible effects. An iridology eye chart thus identifies the different zones of the iris and their significance for the individual’s overall health, both at the time of diagnosis and for the imminent future.

Proponents of alternative medicinal beliefs such as iridology contend that they possess medical value which has been unnecessarily overlooked by the modern medical establishment. Practitioners of this kind of medicine, for their part, have held that unproven techniques such as iridology should never be relied upon for directing the course of an individual’s treatment.