During pregnancy the woman is subjected to countless changes, both physically and on a metabolic level.
Imbalances and discomforts are often the order of the day: from the now much feared nausea, to back pains, from water retention to swollen and painful feet.
Foot reflexology can accompany this troubled path from the third month onwards and effectively reduce the weight (in the broadest sense of the word) of this great change.
Pregnancy and digestive difficulties
Often the first symptoms are linked to an increase in the olfactory and gustatory sensitivity that influences the gastric apparatus, and sometimes anticipates its "digestive" function.
Nausea, therefore ex ante refusals, lack of appetite, or on the contrary irrepressible cravings and the need to eat often with subsequent digestive difficulties are the two sides of the same coin: an imbalance that reverberates from the central nervous system to the digestive system and its functions.
Treating the foot and the reflex areas of the stomach and liver on the plantar front helps to relax the muscles of the digestive system, warm the organs and balance their correct functionality.
In the event of stomach acid and nausea / vomiting we treat an organ in conditions of hyper-stress, so the manipulation that is required is of sedation and dispersion : rotatory movements that calm and disinfect.
In the case of digestive difficulties and meteorism, pressure is needed to stimulate the organ function: a deep and constant pressure that "awakens" the dormant motility.
The stomach is divided between the right and left foot : it is good to start treating the esophagus and the cardia on the left foot and then treat the other portions of the stomach on the right foot.
The liver instead is present only on the right foot and stimulated or sedated, depending on the case, contributes to the correct functionality of the entire gastric apparatus.
The map of foot reflexology
Pregnancy and lymphatic stasis
Another symptom that is felt during pregnancy, especially as the months progress, are swollen legs and feet, water retention on the thighs and arms and the sense of general swelling given by liquid stagnation .
Foot reflexology in these cases is very effective because it works on the whole lymphatic and urinary systems, stirring stagnation, draining liquids and toxins and favoring diuresis.
The practice takes place by stimulating reflex points of the girdles and lymph nodes located both on the plantar area and on the dorsal part. First, however, the area of the so-called lymphatic lagoon, which is anatomically located at the point where the thoracic duct is connected to the left subclavian and must be identified between the third and fourth finger of the left plantar part, must be solicited.
On this point a series of energetic pressures (6 or 7) must be applied to introduce the lymphatic drainage treatment. The treatment of the upper lymphatic circulation occurs by stimulating the interdigital spaces on both feet with a "pinch" pressure that stimulates both the plantar side and the dorsal side.
This practice can be followed by stimulation of the axillary lymph nodes, a semicircle path that starts from the lateral plantar area and arrives between the fourth and fifth finger of both feet.
The lower lymphatic circulation involves the lymphatic glands between the internal malleolus and the external malleolus around the instep and along the ankle tract. Often these areas are painful to the touch, as they are generally stagnation areas.
Finally, it is good to treat the thoracic duct which is located along the plantar arch in a reflex zone parallel to that of the vertebral column and starts from below the big toe up to the area of the bladder. The passage can be followed in both directions, from top to bottom and from the bladder to the big toe. In this practice the urinary system is stimulated, essential for the elimination of edema and lymphatic stasis.
Warnings
Foot reflexology can easily be practiced in all those cases in which there are no problems and suffering of the fetus . Otherwise you must proceed very carefully and with the directions of the gynecologist.
It is important to pay attention even in the first three months of pregnancy, a very delicate period, during which it is advisable not to stimulate the areas of the endocrine system and the genital system.