Leg cramps are common during pregnancy. They range anywhere from a fleeting muscular pulling all the way to hopping around in agony. It may start during second trimester and may get worse as pregnancy progresses. While these cramps can occur during the day, its clearly noticeable at night, when they can interfere with a good night’s sleep.
There are many factors which are responsible for this pain. Some of them are discussed below:
1. Increased exertion on muscles due to changes in weight and center of gravity later in pregnancy.
2. Expanding uterus puts pressure on the blood vessels that return from legs to heart and the nerves that lead from trunk to legs.
3. Deficiency in calcium, magnesium and potassium may also be the cause for cramps.
4. Pressure of the baby’s head on the nerves of the pelvis can fire off the leg muscles.
Home remedies for leg cramp:
• Avoid standing or sitting with your legs crossed for long periods of time.
• Stretch your calf muscles regularly during the day and before you go to bed.
• Rotate your ankles and wiggle your toes when you sit, eat dinner, or watch TV.
• Take a walk every day, unless your midwife or doctor has advised you not to exercise.
• Avoid getting too tired.
• Sleep on your left side to improve blood circulation to and from your legs.
• Take a warm bath before bed to relax your muscles or at least soak your feet in warm water for about 10 minutes before you go to bed.
• Shift your sitting posture frequently. Do not sit in the same posture for a long time.
• Increase the intake of fresh vegetables and juices.
• Increase the intake of water.
Herbal Treatment:
• Make mixture of one tsp of apple cider vinegar, one tbsp of calcium lactate, and one tsp of honey and add this mixture in half glass of warm water. Have this daily once. It will be beneficial in leg cramps treatment.
• Essential oils, such as lavender oil, rosemary oil and eucalyptus oil massage is also very helpful in cramp treatment. After massaging, cover the affected parts of the body with a towel dipped in hot water.
• Eat 2-3 bananas daily; it increases the potassium in the body, thus give relief to a person suffering from cramps. Having 2 tsp of honey daily is also very beneficial and helpful in preventing leg cramps.
• Increase consumption of foods rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium in daily diet.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 10:16 pm and is filed under Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
