Fertility

Fiona has specialist training to be able to work with all kinds of fertility issues, including pre-conception care, natural and assisted conception for both men and women. The treatment works on all the endocrine glands and the hormones they produce. This is especially relevant for the fertility hormones (luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, oestrogen and progesterone), the stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) and the thyroid hormone (thyroxine).

Reflexology can often help in regulating the length of menstrual cycle, menstrual flow, reduction of pain and even bringing back periods which have been absent for some time.

There are several different forms of fertility treatments (such as IVF, ICSI and IUI) or ART procedures as well as drug treatments (clomid) or egg/sperm donation.

It can be a very stressful and emotional time, and can be draining both physically and mentally. The calming and balancing effects of reflexology can help enormously and can also complement the medical procedures. It will help to prepare the body to be in optimum health before the treatment is started.

Fertility Reflexology is perfect to use all the way through medicated cycles using treatment protocols that work to enhance the medications’ efficacy.

Depending on where you are in your cycle of treatment, will depend on what reflexology to use. For example if you are in a stimulation phase then stimulation reflexology will be used and if you are in a calming down phase then calming reflexology will be used.

Reflexology can help to prepare your uterus so that the environment for embryo transfer is as favourable as possible. It can also be done a few days after embryo transfer to help with implantation. Concentrating on relaxation techniques so that your whole body and mind is able to switch off and relax deeply. In this sense, a reflexology treatment is the complete opposite of the highly clinical process you may be going through with IVF.

During a Consultation

A detailed history will be taken and an action plan will be agreed with the client. Clients will be asked to observe their menstrual cycle and cervical mucus prior to the appointment to help pin point ovulation.

Treatment Plan

By drawing up a treatment plan, it enables the client to understand how their body works and by tracking menstrual cycles and cervical mucus will make the client feel more in control or their body.

To help prepare the body for conception, weekly reflexology would be recommended.

Fertility Factors

If you have been trying to conceive for 12 months or more, it is defined as infertility or sub-fertility. This can occur when you are trying for your first baby (primary infertility) or for a second child after having a successful pregnancy first time round (secondary infertility). The ability to conceive depends on many different factors, but it is essential that both partners are both in optimum health to enable this to happen.

There are many things you can do to maximise your chances of conceiving naturally. At your initial consultation for fertility reflexology I will provide you with information about how you can enhance your natural fertility. Please get in touch to discuss any concerns you may have regarding your fertility.

It is not just women that are affected with fertility issues, statistics show that both men and women can be affected by infertility. However, it is often the female partner who initiates further investigation and lifestyle changes.

One in seven couples in the UK seek medical help for fertility problems in the UK.

40% of cases involved male fertility issues.

40% + of cases involved female fertility issues.

20% where there was no medical reason for infertility.

It is often at this stage that couples start looking at other lifestyle factors which might be affecting their fertility, such as:

Stress & anxiety – at work or at home.
Sleep pattern – insomnia.
Stimulant intake – alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, recreational drugs.
Nutrition – balanced diet or too many processed foods.
Weight & BMI (body mass index) – overweight or underweight issues.
Exercise – wrong type of exercise or too much / too little.

Fertility & Stress

Stress plays a huge part in fertility problems. When trying to conceive and nothing is happening each month, it becomes an all-consuming emotional roller coaster for both female and male partners. Intercourse can become functional instead of spontaneous, and the stress levels are in a constant heightened state.

This can result in being in a permanent state of stress, which will result in a high level of cortisol circulating through the body which reduces fertility and over a long period of time will lead to exhaustion and adrenal fatigue. If your body is functioning continually at high stress, then your body switches to survival mode and its primary function is to maintain essential functions and repairs. So, any non-essential functions, like reproduction won’t happen until the body is in a state of calmness and balance.

Stress will make the body produce too much adrenaline from the adrenal glands. Adrenal deficiency in turn leads to low thyroid function. Symptoms of low thyroid function can include no ovulation and a short luteal phase, meaning that any fertilised egg is not sustained in its early phase for long enough.

Hormonal Imbalances & Fertility

Hormonal imbalances also affect chances of conceiving, and can be responsible for:

PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome)
Endometriosis
Recurrent miscarriage
Luteal phase defect
Progesterone deficiency
No periods
Painful periods
Fertility reflexology can help promote relaxation from within and with bring balance to the essential hormones for conception.