Pedicures/Calf Massage...total no-no?

My lamaze teacher/labor nurse advised no calf massage at all during
pregnancy...something about the blood being heavier during pregnancy and
collecting in the lower body and massage unearthing a clot that could travel to
the lungs and.....you know the rest. I ran it by my doctor and he absolutley
agreed. I was a bit surprised as no one advised against this during the
beginning of my pregnancy
(now in week 38) and I had a ton of pedicures with very deep accupressure to my
calves. My doctor even went so far as to say that during a Charley Horse or
leg cramp not to massage the calf which is so instinctive for me. He said it
could be dangerous and I should just flex my foot or stand up.

I'm kind of annoyed it wasn't mentioned earlier on.

Anyway, thought I 'd share.

Lisa

"Zucca4" wrote in message
...
My lamaze teacher/labor nurse advised no calf massage at all during
pregnancy...something about the blood being heavier during pregnancy and
collecting in the lower body and massage unearthing a clot that could
travel to
the lungs and.....you know the rest. I ran it by my doctor and he
absolutley
agreed. I was a bit surprised as no one advised against this during the
beginning of my pregnancy
(now in week 38) and I had a ton of pedicures with very deep accupressure
to my
calves. My doctor even went so far as to say that during a Charley Horse
or
leg cramp not to massage the calf which is so instinctive for me. He said
it
could be dangerous and I should just flex my foot or stand up.

I'm kind of annoyed it wasn't mentioned earlier on.

Anyway, thought I 'd share.

Lisa


That's silly and there's absolutly no truth that I can find in medical
studies to even suggest anything like that. As a matter of fact, all I can
find are sites that endorse pregnancy message, including the calves and
thighs.






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"Denise" wrote in message
...

"Zucca4" wrote in message
...
My lamaze teacher/labor nurse advised no calf massage at all during
pregnancy...something about the blood being heavier during pregnancy and
collecting in the lower body and massage unearthing a clot that could
travel to
the lungs and.....you know the rest. I ran it by my doctor and he
absolutley
agreed. I was a bit surprised as no one advised against this during the
beginning of my pregnancy
(now in week 38) and I had a ton of pedicures with very deep
accupressure
to my
calves. My doctor even went so far as to say that during a Charley
Horse
or
leg cramp not to massage the calf which is so instinctive for me. He
said
it
could be dangerous and I should just flex my foot or stand up.

I'm kind of annoyed it wasn't mentioned earlier on.

Anyway, thought I 'd share.

Lisa


That's silly and there's absolutly no truth that I can find in medical
studies to even suggest anything like that. As a matter of fact, all I
can
find are sites that endorse pregnancy message, including the calves and
thighs.



Well my pedicure before I had Lewis felt *fabulous* and I'd totally
recommend it to any pregnant woman.
I've never heard of such a thing before.

Sounds a bit strange to me!

My pregnancy book also advises massaging the affected area for leg cramps
(In addition to standing up or flexing the muscles up).



"Zucca4" wrote in message
...
My lamaze teacher/labor nurse advised no calf massage at all during
pregnancy...something about the blood being heavier during pregnancy and
collecting in the lower body and massage unearthing a clot that could
travel to
the lungs and.....you know the rest. I ran it by my doctor and he
absolutley
agreed. I was a bit surprised as no one advised against this during the
beginning of my pregnancy
(now in week 38) and I had a ton of pedicures with very deep accupressure
to my
calves. My doctor even went so far as to say that during a Charley Horse
or
leg cramp not to massage the calf which is so instinctive for me. He said
it
could be dangerous and I should just flex my foot or stand up.

I'm kind of annoyed it wasn't mentioned earlier on.

Anyway, thought I 'd share.

Lisa

Zucca4 wrote:

My lamaze teacher/labor nurse advised no calf massage at all during
pregnancy...something about the blood being heavier during pregnancy and
collecting in the lower body and massage unearthing a clot that could travel to
the lungs and.....you know the rest. I ran it by my doctor and he absolutley
agreed. I was a bit surprised as no one advised against this during the
beginning of my pregnancy
(now in week 38) and I had a ton of pedicures with very deep accupressure to my
calves. My doctor even went so far as to say that during a Charley Horse or
leg cramp not to massage the calf which is so instinctive for me. He said it
could be dangerous and I should just flex my foot or stand up.

I'm kind of annoyed it wasn't mentioned earlier on.

Anyway, thought I 'd share.

Lisa




I absolutely did not know that. That is exactly what I did when I was
pregnant with my DD! Thanks for sharing that.

--
Vidya
mom to Vandu(4)
EDD May 6th '04

Denise wrote in message
That's silly and there's absolutly no truth that I can find in medical
studies to even suggest anything like that. As a matter of fact, all I
can
find are sites that endorse pregnancy message, including the calves and
thighs.

It certainly is a medical fact or at least it was when I was in school. I
learned this through medical training I recieved as as a nursing assistant.
We were not allowed to massage calf muscles because of blood clots that
could be there and it can loosen up and move to the lungs. However, I don't
think all people are at risk, but certainly a pregnant woman would be with
more blood flow. Certain people who are bedridden, but if you are an active
pregnant woman, than I am sure the risks are very low. But, it is true. )
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

interesting...I never gave it much thought either, but after reading today's
posts I decided to ask a totally different doctor, the one who performs my
Bio-physical profiles and he wasn't surprised at all. Definitley said "death"
would be a rare instance but said calf massage was NOT advisable during
pregnancy although a pedicure with a FOOT massage would be A-ok. He said no one
in his present practice ever suffered a clot to the lungs but when he had
started out 20 years ago at his NYC office a young mother had died from what
they finally attributed to a deep massage not performed by a maternal-massage
expert.

Whatever.....for the next two weeks I can do without any calf massage I guess


I've always been one to err on the side of caution.

Lisa

Zucca4 wrote:
My lamaze teacher/labor nurse advised no calf massage at all during
pregnancy...something about the blood being heavier during pregnancy and
collecting in the lower body and massage unearthing a clot that could travel to
the lungs and.....you know the rest. I ran it by my doctor and he absolutley
agreed.

I had loads of calf massages when pregnant, especially towards the end
of pregnancy when I would get really bad cramps. The cramps indicate a
build-up of muscle waste products in the muscles, which are normally
removed by the blood stream. In pregnancy this is less effective, but
I honestly have never heard *not* to massage, quite the contrary. The
midwife recommended a calf massage when going to bed and putting the
legs up a bit, to improve circulation. It did help a lot. But then
again, I'm no doctor...

--
-- I
mommy to DS (15m)
guardian of DH (32)
War doesn't decide who's right, only who's left

Sue wrote:

It certainly is a medical fact or at least it was when I was in school. I
learned this through medical training I recieved as as a nursing assistant.
We were not allowed to massage calf muscles because of blood clots that
could be there and it can loosen up and move to the lungs. However, I don't
think all people are at risk, but certainly a pregnant woman would be with
more blood flow. Certain people who are bedridden, but if you are an active
pregnant woman, than I am sure the risks are very low. But, it is true. )

When I was pregnant with the twins, I was Medivac-ed to a hospital
because the local doctor thought a clot travelled from my leg to my
lungs. I was having leg cramps (a common occurrence during pregnancy)
but I also had trouble breathing and had started to hyper-ventilate
(later attributed to altitude sickness plus tiredness/anxiety).

They took a bunch of low-level x-rays and everything was fine.

--
Brigitte aa #2145
edd #3 February 15, 2004
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

Zucca4 wrote:
interesting...I never gave it much thought either, but after reading
today's posts I decided to ask a totally different doctor, the one
who performs my Bio-physical profiles and he wasn't surprised at
all. Definitley said "death" would be a rare instance but said calf
massage was NOT advisable during pregnancy although a pedicure with a
FOOT massage would be A-ok. He said no one in his present practice
ever suffered a clot to the lungs but when he had started out 20
years ago at his NYC office a young mother had died from what they
finally attributed to a deep massage not performed by a
maternal-massage expert.

Whatever.....for the next two weeks I can do without any calf massage
I guess

This is surprising to me. The prenatal massage I had was seemed deep
and she worked my legs as well as arms and back. It seemed to be
standard. What would an expert do that's so special?

Carolyn


--
Carolyn Fairman
http://www.stanford.edu/~cfairman/