Farewell Elephant Legs! How to Reduce Leg Swelling During Pregnancy

Feet

Many pregnant women experience swelling in the legs especially during the middle to the late pregnancy.

Today, we will talk about the reason why swelling occurs, and preventive measures that you can easily do on a daily basis.

Reason for swelling during pregnancy

Besides hormonal balance and changes in blood constituents, blood flow is obstructed in the enlarging uterus. Blood coming down to the feet has a difficult time to return to the heart and so it gathers in the legs and feet. The feet will circulate only about 70% of the blood in the second half of pregnancy. In particular, pregnant women who work are often in the same position for a long time, so it is important to frequently massage and promote blood flow.

In addition, shortage of exercise and coldness also aggravate the blood flow and promote swelling, so take time to do some moderate exercise while pregnant to warm up the body.

More information on “edema”, or swelling, can be found here.

 Promoting blood flow with massage is also effective for relieving swelling. Massage using your favorite aromatherapy essential oil to help destress and relax. The following are some effective foot massages.

Maternity reflex (foot massage)

If the lymph node is loosened before massage, the flow of lymph is better. As the calf lymph nodes are on the back of the knees and the lymph nodes on the thighs are on the base of the feet, let’s squeeze them first and loosen them gently.

Wrap the ankle with both hands and massage upwards while applying reasonable pressure. Consciously apply pressure on this part of your leg because it is especially effective for fatigue and swelling.

The illustration above shows the back of the lower half of the legs. The important points to massage are the “Tsenyama” (around middle between ankle and ankle)”, and “Reflexion” (around halfway between the knee back and Sosei )” in the calf.

Calf massage

Wrap the ankle with both hands and massage upwards while applying reasonable pressure. Consciously apply pressure on this part of your leg because it is especially effective for fatigue and swelling.

The illustration above shows the back of the lower half of the legs. The important points to massage are the “Tsenyama” (around middle between ankle and ankle)”, and “Reflexion” (around halfway between the knee back and Sosei )” in the calf.

Inside thigh massage

The “meridian”, which is said to be associated with energy in Oriental medicine, connects acupuncture points with the organs. Therefore, the massage effect will increase if you press along the meridian. There is a meridian that leads to the uterus through three acupressure points on the throat, so you just press down to make your feet light. Also, if you relax the meridian with massage, birth seems easier.

When you feel stiff in some parts, massage them with fists as you gently relax.

Pair massage

It will be a relief to have your feet massaged especially if you have been standing for a long time or walking too hard. Since there are reflex areas of the uterus and ovaries (places where peripheral nerves are concentrated) around the heel, be careful not to press strongly.

These are some very effective methods on foot massage. (Go to the page by clicking on the highlighted text).

SUMMARY

If you massage with carrier oil blended with essential oil, it seems that the effect of essential oil ingredients can also be obtained. We recommend grapefruit for swelling and cypress for diuretic action and metabolism promotion.

Also, putting essential oil in the footbath increases moisture retention, and if you add essential oil to bath salts, it will also improve coldness. Massage firmly while being healed by your favorite fragrance to eliminate hard swelling.

Learn more tips on reducing leg/feet swelling by clicking here.

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