Hello, our dear readers.
In this article I would like to highlight in as much detail as possible the problem of leg pain during pregnancy. Almost every expectant mother has encountered this problem and probably initially wondered why her legs still hurt during pregnancy, what to do if the exercises are done, the required mileage is covered, the nutrition is correct and the bed is comfortable. So what's the big deal?
There are many causes of leg pain and all of them can be caused by pregnancy, since the expectant mother’s body has a double load.
And yet the reasons are, first of all, a greatly increasing weight, a shift in the center of gravity commensurate with the constantly increasing belly and arching of the back, swelling of the legs, cramps turning into aching pain, the presence of problems with the spine, possibly before pregnancy, varicose veins.
Decide on the nature of the pain and consult a doctor for advice, but before that, you can help yourself with simple methods that have helped millions of young expectant mothers become a little happier.
As soon as you contact a specialist, first of all, they will take a test of your blood, urine and something else to accurately find out the cause of your ailments.
While you are waiting for results, you can resort to the very common advice of specialists, which will definitely follow, but you can start implementing them even before the doctor writes them on a piece of paper.
Of course, there is no point in running away during an acute attack of pain; it is better to lie down and relax to minimize discomfort.
Ask your husband to give you a light massage on your feet, try a contrast shower or a lukewarm foot bath if you no longer have the strength to get to the bathroom. Why not entrust the foot bath to your husband as well.
But when the attack subsides, you should go to your obstetrician-gynecologist, as well as to a specialist called a vascular surgeon. They are the ones who can and will do everything possible to make you comfortable during your pregnancy.
Naturally. In the early stages, the cause of pain will most likely be some deviations from the general picture of the tests. For example, poor diet, low fluid intake, spinal problems or flat feet that you may not have known about.
In the later stages, the main problem will be excess weight, which creates stress on the legs and the inability to correctly distribute your weight while walking. That is why there are special exercises that will help you maintain your posture and minimize the problem of leg pain.
By the way, you can continue to walk at the same pace as before pregnancy. This will be easy to do with correct posture.
But both in the early and late stages there are many answers on how to deal with pain. There are many painkillers, but, as they say, they are for last resorts. Your best friend for the entire period can be a cream against varicose veins, as well as cooling gels that quickly restore muscle tone.
What to do if they can't cope? Look for the reason. And after the doctors’ verdict, use those drugs that will solve the problem without harm to the current pregnancy.
Good luck to you, dear readers, and interesting reading of other articles on our forum. How to treat various diseases, how to take care of yourself and your child, you will find all this in our articles if you subscribe to updates.
In addition, if you know people who are experiencing the problems described in this article, you can easily share information with them by clicking just one button.
Unfortunately, varicose veins are a common companion for pregnant mothers. If your legs hurt a lot during pregnancy, alternate between activity and rest. Don't ignore exercise and swimming. Rest with your feet on the cushion. Use compression stockings and tights; Another common disease that often occurs or worsens even in the 1st trimester is flat feet. The arch of the foot is a kind of complex shock-absorbing apparatus, and if its functions are impaired, the entire musculoskeletal system suffers, which leads to discomfort.
Legs hurt during pregnancy, what to do, you ask? Shoes with low, stable heels will help you save the situation, cm is enough.
And also the mandatory use of an insole-support in accordance with the type and degree of flat feet. Second trimester At this time, on the one hand, the body adapts, hormones return to normal, and on the other hand, weight continues to increase, the center of gravity shifts. During this period, you begin to feel physiological pain in your legs, which can only increase over time.
This is due precisely to the increase in weight per kg. Calcium functions as an electrolyte. With a lack of this element, the calves of the legs hurt during pregnancy. More precisely, you may experience regular cramps, both at rest and when walking. To avoid this situation, do not forget about proper nutrition, vitamins and minerals. Due to increased stress, chronic problems with the spine, wearing high-heeled shoes during pregnancy, a pinched nerve may occur in the legs in the early stages of pregnancy. Get plenty of rest by lying on a moderately hard surface; Use the bandage; Visit the pool to relieve your back.
Third trimester During this period, your weight reaches its maximum, childbirth is approaching, and it becomes more and more difficult for you. If your legs hurt during late pregnancy, the reasons may be the same as in previous trimesters.
Other possible causes are swelling. Fluid is retained inside the body, causing you to feel constantly tired. Limit your consumption of teas, but drink water as desired; Eat less salty foods; Drink diuretic drinks, such as rosehip infusion.
The pain manifests itself as swelling, cramps, aching or nagging pain, heaviness, and the legs feel like lead. In the early stages of pregnancy, due to changes in weather, a feeling of “twisting” of the legs occurs. Read more Pain manifests itself as swelling, cramps, aching or nagging pain, heaviness, legs feel like lead. Women complain of pain in the bones of their legs. If a woman is healthy, soreness is a consequence of fatigue. If the pain is severe, serious illnesses are possible. Leg pain. In the early stages of pregnancy, due to changes in weather, a feeling of “twisting” of the legs occurs. In the feet, due to wearing tight shoes, heels. Nails grow into the skin of the toe, causing discomfort. Causes of pain include standing still and prolonged walking. With severe swelling due to excessive fluid intake. Hide.
The baby's head presses on the symphysis pubis and the bones move slightly apart. The body is preparing for the birth process. Normally, the distance increases to 1 cm. With symphysitis, the bones diverge more and there is a risk of rupture of the symphysis pubis during childbirth. If the pain is severe, when it is difficult to even turn over in bed and raise your leg, it is necessary to do an ultrasound. So that the doctor decides whether a natural birth is possible or whether the risk is too high and it is better for you to have a caesarean section.
In this article, we will look at why your legs ache in the early stages of pregnancy, and we will explain how to alleviate the condition if your leg hurts at the beginning of pregnancy. Why does my leg pull during early pregnancy? Discomfort, swelling and a feeling of heaviness in the legs in the first weeks of pregnancy most often accompany early toxicosis of pregnancy, which includes all pathological changes in the body of a pregnant woman. Early toxicosis manifests itself in feelings of nausea, skin irritation, muscle cramps, asthma and other painful manifestations.
Most often, early toxicosis of pregnant women aches in the early stages of pregnancy, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, thyroid gland and liver, bacterial and viral infections. To exclude manifestations of early toxicosis, in the first trimester of pregnancy, at the first signs of discomfort in the legs, you should consult a doctor. The first manifestations of varicose veins are the second common reason why the left leg ache at the beginning of pregnancy. During pregnancy, the body increases the synthesis of the hormone progesterone, the main task of which is to relax the smooth muscle muscles of the uterus. This may be a response to an increase in load in proportion to the growth of the abdomen, an enlargement of the uterus, an exacerbation of chronic processes in the body against the background of a deterioration in the protective mechanism.
Let's look at what aches in the body are during pregnancy, what it means, and how to prevent this unpleasant process.
Symptom of aching legs during pregnancy. When your legs ache and your whole body aches in the early stages of pregnancy, there is no reason to worry. This is a good sign that the body is beginning to rebuild itself and is doing it very actively, which means that the function of readiness for pregnancy is well adjusted. Body aches are a purely subjective sensation of a woman, which may not be caused by any physiological or pathological processes; it’s just that every body, even of a healthy person, when it receives an increased load, begins to give typical failures in the form of aches and reluctance to do anything further.
Published: March 20, 2018 | Author: correiroten
Leg pain during pregnancy (especially in the third trimester) is as common a symptom for some women as morning weakness, fatigue or back pain. Fortunately, this disease usually goes away with childbirth. However, while you are pregnant, you will probably have questions about what can cause leg pain and how it can be relieved.
Let's look at the most common causes of leg pain during pregnancy.
With the onset of pregnancy, the production of certain hormones increases in a woman’s body, which leads to fluid retention. In turn, this is the cause of swelling. But during pregnancy, the body needs additional fluid, because with its help the baby is supplied with the nutrients necessary for growth and development.
Typically, excess fluid accumulates in the lower part of the body - feet, legs, thighs. This is because the growing uterus puts pressure on the veins that carry blood back up from the lower extremities. It is worth noting that the blood vessels in the legs are smaller than those in the upper body. Thus, due to partial blockage of blood flow, fluid is retained in the legs, causing swelling. Swelling may be accompanied by unpleasant sensations in the form of discomfort or even pain.
To relieve discomfort and pain in your legs caused by swelling, try the following:
1. Try to raise your legs more often. If possible, do the following exercise: lie on your back, raise your legs 30 cm from the floor or bed (you can prepare a support in advance so as not to keep your legs suspended), hold in this position for 15-20 minutes. This exercise will help ensure the flow of blood from the legs and relieve swelling.
2. Do rotational exercises: sit on a chair, lift one leg, make 10 ankle rotations, first to the left, then to the right. Do the same with the second leg. Repeat 10 times.
3. Taking a comfortable lying or half-sitting position, raise your legs above heart level. You can apply ice to the inside of your ankle for a while. Stay in this position for 15 minutes.
To reduce the risk of swelling, try sleeping on your side rather than your back to help reduce pressure on the vena cava, the largest vein leading to the heart. Otherwise, pressure on this blood vessel will slow the return of blood from the lower extremities.
Another tip: do not try to reduce swelling by refusing to drink, because dehydration will only make the situation worse. Carefully monitor your weight: excess weight not only contributes to the appearance of puffiness, but also leads to other health problems.
If swelling of the legs is a typical pregnancy phenomenon, then if swelling of the face or hands appears, especially if there are accompanying symptoms such as headaches, blurred vision or weight gain of more than 400 g per day, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible.
In addition to swelling, pregnant women also complain of leg cramps, which also cause pain and severe discomfort. The most common spasms are observed in the calves. The causes of leg cramps can be both increased load on the legs and a lack of calcium with a simultaneous excess of phosphorus in the body of a pregnant woman. Cramps occur especially often at night during sleep, when the legs “depart” from the daytime load.
You can prevent such spasms as follows:
How to get rid of a cramp if it has already occurred?
If you're already feeling a cramp, you can relieve the pain by either applying heat (such as a warm water bottle) to the cramp or by stretching your calf. The best way to get rid of a cramp is to “work out” it, but if the muscle spasms happen at night and you don’t want to get out of bed, you can simply massage your calf with both hands, slowly moving from your knee to your toes.
If your legs hurt during pregnancy, but you do not observe swelling or cramps, the cause of such pain may be dilated veins - varicose veins. In pregnant women, blood volume increases by 40%, which leads to increased pressure on the walls of blood vessels. As a result, the veins are stretched so much that their valves no longer close normally. Because of this, blood in larger quantities than necessary enters the vein, causing varicose veins. Women who are overweight and those who spend long periods of time standing at work are especially at risk of varicose veins during pregnancy.
Pain, heaviness in the legs, fatigue, pressure are typical symptoms associated with varicose veins. As a rule, these symptoms subside with the birth of the child, but with each new pregnancy they tend to intensify.
How to prevent varicose veins during pregnancy?
To minimize the risks of developing varicose veins, you should lead a more active lifestyle. A particularly effective “antidote” for varicose veins is:
After your baby is born, you may have a procedure to remove varicose veins using laser or surgery.
Since during pregnancy the female body actively produces the hormone relaxin, which affects ligaments, joints and bones, this can lead to divergence of the pubic bone. In such cases, a woman may experience pain in the thighs, between the legs, lower abdomen, pubic bone, etc. Another cause of pain between the legs may be sciatic neuralgia, which is caused by a pinched sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back down the legs. This nerve is the longest in the human body; it is responsible for the sensitivity of the lower extremities. During pregnancy, the growing uterus can put pressure on this nerve, causing the pregnant woman to experience pain in the inner thighs, buttocks, or lower back.
How to deal with pain between your legs during pregnancy?
If the pain between the legs is caused by a discrepancy in the pubic bone, a pregnant woman may benefit from:
If the cause of leg pain is a pinched sciatic nerve, the following may be prescribed to relieve it:
Remember: before you start fighting pain, you should definitely consult a doctor.
Summarizing all of the above, we can conclude: pain in the legs during pregnancy is a fairly common occurrence that does not entail any serious consequences. If you are experiencing severe leg pain during pregnancy, the most prudent decision would be to see a doctor who can determine the exact cause of the pain in your case, and also prescribe treatment or give recommendations for pain relief.