Pregnant and nose bleed after reflexology?

[bfexpueziakiszeak]

Hi,

I was wondering if I could ask your advice. I am 39 and a half weeks pregnant and decided to have some reflexology 2 days ago from a lady who specialises in maternity. It went well and I felt like it moved things in the right direction - I'm sure the baby has dropped more in to my pelvis and so I was really pleased. It was quite intense and a little painful but I enjoyed the treatment.

I'm actually trained in reflexology myself although I don't practice it and haven't done since my course about 6 years ago so my knowledge isn't great anymore, but she advised me of some points on my hands and feet I could press on. These are the uterus point, a pressure point on my leg and on hand to help secrete oxytocin and also the pituatary. I asked her how often I should work on these and she said as much as possible. I haven't been overdoing it but this afternoon I spent about 40mins massaging my feet and hands, some of it general massage as my feet are very dry, some more pressure work. When I got up I had a nose bleed, quite a lot of blood coming out fast, although it didn't last more than a minute or two and I didn't feel faint or anything. I've never had one before so I assume it's pregnancy-related or something to do with where I was pressing.

My question is have I overdone it with the pressure points do you think? I'm also supposed to be seeing her next week on my due date but now I'm concerned that perhaps I shouldn't and it might cause another bleed?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you

Honeyrose

 

[Nafisa Abdi]

Hi Honeyrose

I've never come across this before and I do quite alot of reflexology to encourage labour (by the way if you go to a Gentle Touch Reflexologist it is totally pain free and in my experience just as effective).

Did you spend a while with your head bent over when working on your feet ?

Wishing you a smooth and joyful delivery.

Lou xxx

 

[GOiPHONE]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. No, I was just sitting down on the sofa, sort of laid back. Also I've just had another one today! I had pressed a little on my pituitary and again the point for stimulating oxytocin, both on my hands. It didn't happen straight after but not long after. I guess I should contact the lady I saw and see what she says.

x

 

[Mr. Wildflowers]

Depending on whose "pituitary" point you're working on you could be working quite close to the nose reflex too. It is rather common for pregnant women to experience nose bleeds due to the tremendous turnover of fluid volume going on between her own system and baby's.

A couple of rules of thumb in my book:
1) Baby's brain and lungs are doing a ton of developing during the last few weeks of pregnancy so unless my client has an appointment for a medical induction or a c-section I don't encourage the "oxytocin" routine.
2) Reflexology shouldn't hurt - maybe a few "hurts good" spots but not anything painful. The body wants to retreat and protect when it is in pain - can the body do its best healing at that stage?
3) It isn't the amount of pressure applied to a reflex but the size of the actual nerve ending that will determine the message sent to the brain. So take it easy on the pressure and gently stimulate the points your Reflexologist suggested. You may find 10-15 minutes of self help foot or hand work three times a day more helpful than one long self help session all at once.

Hope this helps and best of luck!