Fertility – Can Reflexology help you to get pregnant?

Can Reflexology help enhance fertility? You may have heard anecdotal stories about how reflexology was the key to helping someone fall pregnant but how does this work?

Well, firstly, it’s important to note that complementary therapies help to reduce stress and anxiety which is often the number one barrier to conceiving. Underlying medical conditions, high levels of stress, psychological or emotional issues can all affect your fertility.
Reproductive Reflexology or Reproreflexology goes one stage further than this.

A trained Reproreflexologist can support couples by:
• Aiming to regulate menstrual cycles to ensure each stage is working as it should
• Improving fertility health for both men and women using specific treatment protocols
• Assisting any underlying conditions such as PCOS, endometriosis,
• Aiming to improve sperm production and functionality

Reprorefloxology treatments can be used to enhance your natural fertility or it can be used with all forms of assisted conception including Clomid, IUI, IVF and ICSI.

So what happens at a Reproreflexology treatment?

Both partners are invited to attend an initial appointment if they wish – although no pressure! What is important, however, is that the consultation form is completed for both partners – after all, it takes two people to make a baby and fertility issues affect men just as much as women. The form goes through your medical history, fertility history and lifestyle which can all inform your treatment.

I will then take a look at your feet to inform the treatment plan. Colour and temperature can all provide clues as to what’s going on in your body.

After this we will discuss your treatment plan and I’ll offer advice that I feel will help. If there has been a history of fertility issues, I’d strongly recommend working with you for 3 to 4 months. This is because it takes 3 months for sperm to be produced and ready to fertilize an egg. If you are planning any assisted conception methods such as IVF, I’d recommend the same time frame give your body the best chance to prepare for your treatment.

I would really advise all women to chart their Basal Body Temperature (BBT) through at least one or two cycles. This involves taking and tracking your temperature using an under the tongue thermometer first thing every morning. It may seem a bit of a fuss for some but I cannot stress how useful this is! Cycle tracking gives us so much information into how hormone levels are affecting your cycle and how we as reflexologists need to adjust our treatments to enhance your fertility.

I will let you know when to come for your reflexology treatments as timing is important when working with fertility. If you are able, we recommend coming for weekly sessions for the first 3 or 4 weeks so we can work through a whole cycle together.

I will also show you reflex points on your hands so that you can work daily on yourselves at home.

You will also receive an information pack containing everything you need such as advice on nutrition and lifestyle to enhance fertility and tips to reduce stress levels. Trained Reproductive Reflexologists can also recommend some high quality supplements to support you in your fertility journey.

The Association of Reproductive Reflexologists (ARR) work with a number of specialist fertility consultants and clinics across the UK and we are able to refer you to these if we feel they can help you with further specialist testing or treatment.

Does it work?

The ARR undertook a data collection study of 180 clients who were receiving reproductive reflexology whilst trying to conceive. Here are the results:

Age range 24 – 46

100 natural conceptions

22 conceptions with IVF/ICSI

Average number of treatments 11.32

68% conceived whilst receiving treatment

Pregnancy with IVF/ICSI 52%

Next steps

If you are struggling to conceive, you are not alone. Statistically 1 in 6 couples experience difficulties in trying to get pregnant. If you’d like to find a Reproreflexologist near you, you can search here.

www.reproductivereflexologists.org

In the meantime, here are some things you can do from today.

• Find ways to manage your stress levels as this can affect sperm health and menstrual cycles.
• Look at your diet and nutrition. In particular, try to reduce alcohol and caffeine.
• Smoking – if you smoke, try to find ways to quit. Research shows that men and women who smoke are more likely to have fertility problems and take longer to conceive.
• Arrange testing to get more information on your fertility health. Men can have a sperm analysis and it’s also useful to have a Sperm DNA Fragmentation test. Women can have some baseline blood tests such as FSH/LH/AMH and an Antral Follicle Count
• Take a good supplement – your Reproductive Reflexologist can advise on this.

If you would like more information, please do get in touch. I offer free 20 minute telephone consultations for anyone who is considering Reproductive Reflexology treatments.

rebecca@clinicalreflexologycornwall.co.uk

call: 07867 522291

Wishing you all the best on your fertility journey!