Effects of foot reflexology on pain and physiological parameters after cesarean section

Pain is a common phenomenon after all surgical operation. Although using analgesia is usual to relieve pain, its complication, unavailability, necessity of taking less drug, especially analgesia, and also ineffectiveness of using analgesia alone, to relieve pain has focused therapeutic system on complementary treatments such as foot reflexology. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the effects of foot reflexology on pain in patients who underwent cesarean section. This clinical trial study was carried out on 62 women referring to cesarean section in Alzahra Hospital (Rasht city). They were randomly divided into two groups of case and control. The reflexology group was received a 30-minute foot massage in two sessions, with 24-hours interval. Data gathering tool included a demographic form, step-visual analogue scale and pain score form. In the case group, severity of pain after first stage (day one) was significantly lower than before reflexology session and the control group (p<0.001, p<0.0001, repectively). The severity of pain after second stage was significantly reduced in the case group in comparison with the control group (P<0.001). In the case group, physiologic parameters (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate and respiration rate) showed no significant differences assumed with the control group. In general, foot reflexology appears to be a useful method to reduce postoperative pain, but no effect on physiological parameters