Comparing the Effect of Foot Massage with Grape Seed Oil and Sweet Almond Oil on Physiological Leg Edema in Primigravidae: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background. Leg edema is a prevalent problem in pregnancy causing activity restrictions for pregnant women. This study was performed to compare the effect of foot massage using grape seed oil and sweet almond oil on physiological leg edema. Methods. A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 90 primigravidae referred to public health centres of Zahedan, Iran. The participants’ gestational age was 30–40 weeks. The study was conducted from August 2016 to November 2017. The participants were randomly assigned to three groups (massage with grape seed oil, massage with sweet almond oil, and without intervention). After determining the extent of leg edema, foot massages were done for 20 minutes within 5 days in the two intervention groups. Then, foot circumferences were measured on day 5 after the intervention. Foot circumferences for the control group were measured on days 1 and 5. A nonelastic tape measure was used to measure the circumferences. To analyse the data, SPSS 21 software and statistical tests including one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s test, and paired t-test were used. Results. The results from this study showed a significant difference in the mean score change of foot circumferences between groups (P=0.001). According to the results of Tukey’s test, mean score changes of foot circumferences of both intervention groups were significantly different those of the control group. However, this difference was not significant between the two intervention groups (P=0.865). Conclusion. The findings of this study confirmed the effectiveness of foot massage using grape seed and sweet almond oils to reduce pregnancy physiological edema. Therefore, foot massage with appropriate oils can be used as a useful technique by trained midwives in prenatal care centres or at pregnant women houses. This trial is registered with IRCT2015072723370N1.

An updated review on efficacy and benefits of sweet almond, evening primrose and jojoba oils in skin care applications

“…More recently [52, 53], it has been reported that SAO has benefits in the treatment of striae itch. These findings correlate with other pruritic conditions involving leg oedema [5, 54] and haemodialysis patients [55, 56]. EPO has been reported to be successful in the prevention of xerotic cheilitis in acne patients being treated with isotretinoin [57].…”

Non-pharmacological Interventions for the Management of Lower Extremity Edema During Pregnancy: A Narrative Review Study

“…Also, one study compared the effects of massage with grape seed oil with sweet almond oil. In terms of analyzed outcomes, there were substantial differences between the assessed trials (9,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26). The trials had a high risk of performance and detection bias and were essentially unclear for selection bias.…”

“…The non-pharmacological therapies that we investigated in this study included foot massage, wearing compression stocking and special footwear, immersion in water, feet elevation and resting. Various studies have shown the effective role of foot massage in reducing lower extremity edema in pregnant women (4,25,26).…”

“…Navaee and Rakhshkhorshid (2019) compared the effect of massage with sweet almond oil with grape seed in nulliparous pregnant women. According to their results, there were no significant differences between the two groups in reducing the physiological edema of the legs (26).…”

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“…Recently, in a double‐blind clinical trial study, sweet almond oil in creams was more effective than the base cream at ameliorating the itching of striae and preventing its progression in 160 nulliparous women (Hajhashemi et al., 2018). More recently, a randomized clinical trial showed positive effects of foot massage with sweet almond oil on leg edema resulting from pregnancy (Navaee & Rakhshkhorshid, 2020). Similarly, foot massage with almond oil was found to be effective in reducing fatigue and improving the quality of life in patients undergoing hemodialysis (Habibzadeh et al., 2020).…”