Pregnancy Foot Massage: Relieves Stress, Pain, Swelling, Strain

Pregnancy Foot Massage: Relieves Stress, Pain, Swelling, Strain . Pregnancy is a wonderful experience in the life of every woman. However, during pregnancy, the feet have to put up with a lot of stress and strain. It may trigger problems related to the feet such as flat foot, edema, heel pain, arch pain, pain in the ball of the foot, leg cramping, while some may also suffer from varicose veins.

Weight gain is natural and inevitable in pregnancy. Due to weight gain, the center of gravity is altered. Hence your body alters its weight bearing stance naturally to cope with the additional weight. A lot of pressure is therefore exerted on the knees and the feet.

Flat Foot / Over-Pronation: Due to additional weight and pressure on the feet during pregnancy, sometimes, arches of the feet flatten out resulting into Flat foot. Hence, there is increased strain on the feet, calves, back and walking becomes painful.

Incase you have flat foot, always choose to wear well fitting footwear that will provide extra support and shock absorption.

Edema / Swelling: Edema means feet swelling during pregnancy. Enlarging uterus puts additional pressure on the veins and slows down circulation to the legs. Blood pooling in your legs as well as extra fluid retention in your tissues causes swelling in your feet.

To reduce edema or swelling; keep your feet in a raised position, stretch your legs, rotate the ankles, move the toes as often as possible. Wear comfortable shoes, walk regularly, drink lots of water and avoid foods high in sodium.

Why pregnancy foot massage?

Foot massage for edema during pregnancy is very helpful as it brings about a lot of positive benefits. Massage helps relax the muscles, relieves stress, pain, cramping, swelling. It also improves immunity and circulation. It helps cure heartburn, constipation and morning sickness.

How is a pregnancy foot massage done?

Massaging Top & Bottom of the feet/> Massage top of the foot with long slow stroking motion using both thumbs. Start stroking from the toes and move up towards the ankles, then return to the toes using lighter pressure. Repeat this 3 – 5 times. Then massage the bottom of the foot similarly. This helps relax, warms up the foot, stimulates circulation.

Ankle relaxation/> Hold the heel in one hand and grip the toes with the other. Now rotate the ankles clockwise and anticlockwise 3-5 times. This helps relax the feet and joints.

Toes massage/> Toe slides, pulls and squeezes are used to relax the toes.

Toe slides: Interlace the fingers of hand with the toes of the feet. Now slide the fingers from the base of the toes to the tip of the toes back and forth 3 -5 times.

Toe Pulls: Hold the toes with thumb on top, index finger below it. Firmly pull the toes.

Toe squeezes: Keeping the same grip of hands, gently squeeze and roll from base of the toes to the tips and back again.

Foot Arch massage/> Use heel of the hand to apply pressure and glide along the arch starting from the ball of the foot to the heel and back again.

What precautions to take in pregnancy foot massage?

While foot massage in pregnancy has its own benefits, it is certainly advisable to consult your doctors and seek their permission in advance. There are certain acupressure points on the feet which are likely to induce labor.  Hence it is very critical that these pressure points are not massaged.