Sometimes pregnancy can be accompanied by various unpleasant sensations. One of these sensations is when a woman at a pregnancy reduces her calves.
Most often it reduces the muscles of the legs during pregnancy at night, but a spasm can occur in the daytime. At the same time, the calf muscle becomes firm, there is an intolerable pain, it is impossible to stir your foot.
Why does it reduce legs during pregnancy?
The likelihood of leg cramps in pregnant women is significantly higher than that of ordinary people. When pregnancy can reduce legs cramp for a variety of reasons and regular massage in this case does not always help. In any case, if during pregnancy reduces the leg muscles, it is necessary to tell the doctor who is watching the woman during pregnancy.
The cause of convulsions in the legs may be varicose veins. During the period of the child's birth, the outflow of venous blood from the lower limbs is disrupted: the constantly increasing size of the uterus presses on the vessels located in the small pelvis and squeezes the lower vena cava, which leads to the appearance of spasms. If before the pregnancy the woman had varicose veins , then during pregnancy the situation can be further aggravated.
Cramps can also occur due to improperly selected clothing, which can obstruct venous blood flow. Muscular fatigue after prolonged walking or physical exertion, and hypothermia can also affect.
To reduce legs during pregnancy can and because of the increased load due to increased body weight and displacement of the fulcrum. But the most common cause of seizures is the violation of metabolic processes. Nerve impulses in the body are carried out with the participation of minerals such as magnesium potassium and calcium. But during pregnancy, due to the fact that the fetus takes away some of the nutrients from its mother for its development, its body can suffer from their lack. Therefore, a woman during pregnancy can reduce calves, toes, muscles between the legs.
How to deal with cramps?
- First, you need to adjust the diet. The diet should be enriched with calcium. To do this, it is better to use sour-milk products, a variety of cheeses, onions, green salad, sesame. Provide the body with magnesium, you can with buckwheat, carrots, nuts, all kinds of greens. Potassium is found in legumes, potatoes, bananas and dried apricots. It is also possible that the doctor will appoint a special vitamin-mineral complex to the pregnant woman.
- Secondly, in order to reduce the risk of seizures, a pregnant woman should reduce the consumption of coffee and tea, which activate muscle tension even in the absence of movement.
- Thirdly, the clothes of the expectant mother should be comfortable and not close, and with varicose veins or the threat of its occurrence it is necessary to wear special anti-varicose linen.
- Fourth, it takes more time to spend in the open air in order to obtain a sufficient amount of vitamin D, which promotes the absorption of calcium.
- Fifthly, it is recommended to do general restorative exercises for pregnant women.
- Sixth, to get tired, in the evening it's good to make foot baths with sea salt and foot massage.
- Seventh, the pregnant woman is best to sleep on her left side to prevent compression of the vena cava. When positioning on the right side, a soft, low pillow should be placed underneath itself. In any case, the legs should be in a slightly elevated position.
If the cramp still occurs, then you need to massage the gastrocnemius muscle. For this, stroking and kneading movements are used.
Try to remove the pain, you can, pulling his foot to his toe. You can pinch a muscle, cramped or spank it with something sharp. You can apply heat to the back of the shin - put a yellow card or take a warm shower.