There are many symptoms you can experience during pregnancy. Some of them are indistinguishable, while others can be more tiring. One of those symptoms is leg cramps.
Leg cramps are a common pregnancy symptom, and you are not alone if you are experiencing them. If you want to know how to deal with them and what you should do, we at Trogolo OBGYN can help you. Continue reading if you want to learn how to prevent leg cramps and what to do when they happen.
What Are Leg Cramps?
Leg cramps are muscle spasms that most commonly occur in your leg’s calf and foot part. They are often a painful and unpleasant experience and can last for several minutes. Muscle spasms in pregnancy are normal, especially during the second trimester and until the delivery.
The most uncomfortable part of calf cramps during pregnancy is that they frequently occur during the night and wake you up, which can be stressful.
What Are the Causes of Leg Cramps?
Although this is a common problem that many pregnant women experience, there is no scientific or medical evidence or explanation for why leg cramps occur.
The general opinion is that there is no single cause, but somewhat various factors affect why leg cramps happen. And it depends from woman to woman, and it can be due to tiredness in your muscles, problems with your circulation, or even swelling during pregnancy.
What to Do When You Experience Leg Cramps
Muscle spasms in pregnancy are the last thing you want to be happening, especially at night-time. That’s why you always want to be prepared to alleviate the pain you are experiencing. And the best way you can achieve it is to rub the muscles that are hurting. It would help if you rubbed the muscles as hard as you could. If you don’t have the strength to do it alone, you can use specific wooden tools used for massaging to help you, or you can ask your partner to do it for you or someone nearby.
Another thing that can help is to place your leg in a specific position when you sense a cramp coming during the day. You’ll need to point the heel of your foot down and stretch your calf as much as you can.
Once the cramp starts to subside, you can walk around the room to make it go away.
How to Prevent Leg Cramps
You can’t completely prevent calf cramps during pregnancy, but there are a few things you can do that can minimize the potential occurrence of painful muscle spasms in pregnancy.
Exercising helps, and it’s always good to stay in shape, even when you are expecting a baby. The amount and type of physical activity you can do while pregnant depends on your state and overall health. But in general, it’s always good to do prenatal yoga, swim, walk, and stretch every day. It will help you stay in shape and promote good circulation.
Some specific exercises that you can do are foot exercises, where you’ll stretch and bend your foot. This type of movement is perfect when done before bed.
Just be sure that everything you are doing with your body is gentle enough and that you are not forcing yourself to do anything too hard for you.
When to Ask for Help
Even though leg cramps and swelling during pregnancy are normal and most women experience them, if the cramps are not stopping and your legs are incredibly swollen and red, you should immediately seek help from your obstetrician.
If you have any more questions about this topic and don’t know how to deal with symptoms like these, we at Trogolo Obstetrics and Gynecology are here to help you. Call us today and book your appointment so we can discuss any uncomfortable symptoms you are having and see how you can resolve them.
