A good helper for pregnancy pain. Becoming a mother for the first time is always an exciting and anticipated event, but during the nine-month wait, pregnant women often suffer from musculoskeletal pain first.
According to statistics, more than half of pregnant women will experience varying degrees of pain, but they are often told: "This is a normal phenomenon of pregnancy." As the weeks of pregnancy increase, my belly gets bigger day by day, and my body's soreness gradually emerges, as if there is something wrong with every part of my body. During pregnancy, in order to cater for the growth of the baby in the belly, the pregnant woman's body posture will change greatly, and these unconscious changes can easily lead to back pain and muscle tension. At the same time, hand and foot edema and calf cramps also trouble many pregnant women, making the road to pregnancy in this tenth month even more bumpy.
Why are there these problems? Mainly because during pregnancy, the corpus luteum and chorion secrete a large amount of relaxin, which relaxes joints, ligaments and other connective tissues in the body. Especially the sacroiliac joints and pubic symphysis are more obvious because the pelvic cavity is enlarged by the fetus. Significant changes usually begin in the 10th week of pregnancy. In addition, endocrine changes make it easier for edema or water retention, as well as the increase in lumbar flexion caused by the fetus and excessive burden on the joints of pregnant women are also the main reasons. Common symptoms include: 1. Body aches
During pregnancy, as the uterus gradually expands, the abdomen bulges, and the body's center of gravity shifts forward. In order to maintain the body's front and rear balance, the relevant muscles and ligaments are bound to increase the load. and tension. Therefore, the movements of the muscles change from natural to conscious. They are often in this state of tension, and some pregnant women are prone to feeling tired, resulting in muscle soreness. Therefore, women should try to do as little or no heavy physical labor as possible during pregnancy. A good helper for pregnancy pain 2 Back pain
Risk factors for back pain include having a history of back pain before pregnancy; having been pregnant in the past, and the more pregnancies, the higher the chance of back pain; too much Young or elderly pregnant women; those who like to smoke, and those whose work requires bending or sitting for long periods of time. Interestingly, there is no positive correlation between weight gain during pregnancy and back pain. Back pain is divided into upper back group and lower back group. The former pain area extends from both sides of the cervical spine to the shoulder blades, and is usually not directly related to pregnancy; the latter is distributed in the lumbar spine, sometimes extending to one or both lower limbs, and is common among pregnant women. back pain. Nocturnal pain usually occurs 1 to 2 hours after pregnant women fall asleep. It has no fixed location and may wake up from pain. It is currently believed to be related to poor venous return during pregnancy. When pregnant women lie down while sleeping, the venous return that controls the spinal nerve plexus is affected, or the inferior vena cava is compressed, causing obstruction and causing an inflammatory reaction. 3. Numbness and pain in the hands "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome"
The median nerve is compressed in the wrist. The typical symptom is numbness on the palms of the hands, which becomes worse during certain postures and movements, such as playing on the computer, holding a phone, or in cold weather or at night. Usually occurs in the second and third trimester of pregnant women. After delivery, symptoms improve quickly. Pregnant women may also experience numbness, pain or even inflexibility of their fingers. This is because water in the body is retained during pregnancy, causing local swelling of the wrist and compressing the radial and ulnar nerves. This is especially likely to happen when you first get up in the morning. When the fingers are slowly moved, the above situation will be alleviated.
A good helper for pregnancy pain 4. Lean your shoulders forward
When the weight of the vagina gradually increases, the pressure on the shoulders will increase, which will lead to pain in the upper back, shoulders, and lumbar spine over time. Long-term lordosis causes pregnant women to bend their neck forward and increase the tension in the levator scapulae muscle. Therefore, soreness in the temples and the splinterus muscle under the scapula is also a very common site. Postpartum mother's hand
"Mother's hand" is caused by inflammation of the synovial membrane of the thumb tendon. The typical symptom is pain on the radial side of the thumb, especially when twisting a towel or writing. It mainly occurs in late pregnancy, but many people's symptoms continue or even worsen after delivery. "Mom's hands" are not unique to mothers, but they are common in women after giving birth, especially new mothers.
Why are new mothers particularly susceptible to this disease? This is because taking care of a child for the first time, many postures or repeated excessive force can cause the disease. For example, when holding a child, you often use your thumb and arc to support the baby's weight instead of using your five fingers together. Furthermore, when changing the baby's diaper, it is customary to grab the baby's feet with one hand and lift the buttocks upward, and change the clean diaper with the other hand; or for breastfeeding mothers, the action of expressing milk repeatedly in the early postpartum period is , all easily cause excessive burden on tendons and surrounding tissues. A good helper for rehabilitation of pregnancy pain──Physical therapy treatment method
1 Back pain (1) Moderate rest: Place a pillow on your knees when lying down, or raise your feet about 60 cm, usually It can relieve spasm and pain in back muscles. If you can add hot compress to the back, the effect will be better.
(2) Improve posture: If you need to stand for a long time, pregnant women should take turns stepping on a low stool of about 20 cm with both feet. The purpose is to reduce the angle and pressure of lumbar spine flexion. If you want to sit for a long time, pregnant women are also advised to place a back cushion and a small stool under their feet. For daily walking, try to wear flat shoes with air cushions, and the heel of the shoe should not exceed 1 inch.
(3) Physical therapy exercises: After the pain subsides, you can start strengthening exercises for the back and abdominal muscles. According to research, women with good physical fitness have less back pain during pregnancy.
(4) Physical therapy - instrument therapy: Transcutaneous electrotherapy or hot compress can safely reduce pain and muscle spasm.
2 "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" and "Mother's Hand" treatment mainly involves the use of auxiliary wood (stent fixation), proper rest, hot compress, therapeutic ultrasound, low-energy laser and local massage, etc. Physical therapy can help. Try to avoid excessive force and repetitive hand movements in daily life. Keeping the wrist in an excessively extended or flexed angle for a long time will aggravate the symptoms of nerve compression. Expectant mothers should reduce the time they spend using the computer. If this is not possible, they can buy a wrist rest and place it on the computer keyboard. When you feel pinprick-like pain on your fingers, massage your fingers gently for 5 minutes. A good helper for pregnancy aches
3. Abdominal exercises: Lie flat on your back, bend your knees, and slightly raise your buttocks for 5 seconds. Do 5 to 10 times each time. You can adjust it according to your ability to exercise pelvic stability.
4 Physical Therapy Ball Exercises Acid-resistant natural birth is possible. It is recommended that you perform the following exercises in the second trimester of pregnancy. If you have any questions, please ask your rehabilitation physician and physical therapist.
Sit on the ball, hold the treatment ball with both hands, move the pelvis forward and backward and rotate to both sides, you can also lift one foot to train stability. It is a good helper for pregnancy pain
Lie prone on You can sit on the ball and cooperate with your neck to move your waist. You can also sit on the ground and lie on the ball to relax your waist.
5 Swelling Exercises: Lie flat on your back, place your feet on the pillow, and move your ankles upward for 5 seconds. Perform 5 to 10 times each time. You can adjust it according to your ability to reduce foot swelling. A good helper for pregnancy pain
6 Kinesio Taping Treatment
Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Treating Mother’s Hand
To get pregnant The road to pregnancy becomes a little easier. Appropriate prenatal exercise is absolutely helpful. In addition to reducing the daily aches and pains of pregnant women, it can also reduce the degree of edema, reduce postpartum sequelae, speed up recovery, and kill two birds with one stone. Most musculoskeletal problems during pregnancy are temporary. If you are in a high-risk group for these problems, taking preventive measures in advance and taking care of yourself afterwards can minimize discomfort. Pregnant mothers, please don’t worry. If you have the above-mentioned related problems, please feel free to consult a rehabilitation physician or physical therapist for assistance. They will definitely be your good helpers and get rid of your pain. A good helper for pregnancy pains
Publication error statement
In the "Chang Kei Column - A detailed discussion of children's flat feet" published in the April 2013 issue (Issue 154) of this magazine, due to Due to an editorial error, the subject slogan "Physical Therapy" was mistakenly published as "Occupational Therapy".
Since physical therapy uses various physical methods to evaluate and provide medical equipment and related exercise and operational treatments to help patients restore their daily functions, the two are not the same and are hereby revised.
In addition, the text of the same article "Discussing Flat Feet in Children" mentions the important basis for parents to judge flat feet. The judgment criteria on the picture were not clearly marked when it was published. This text is re-excerpted here. The "red line" points out the basis for distinguishing normal feet vs. flat feet (as shown below).
Causes of flat feet Flat feet, commonly known as duck feet, are defined as when standing, there is no space on the inside of the sole of the foot, and the entire sole of the foot is flat on the ground, which is flat foot. There are two types of flat feet: functional elastic flat feet and structural rigid flat feet. If you suspect that your child has flat feet, you can do a simple test for your baby: let the child sit on a chair with his feet in the air, and see if there is a depression on the inside of the sole of the child's foot. But when standing on the ground, , the sunken area is flattened, which is a functional flat foot, which will develop a normal arch as it grows; on the other hand, if the sole of the foot is flat regardless of whether it is on the ground or not, it is a structural flat foot.
Normal foot: draw a line vertically from the calf to the ground and it will pass through the heel bone
Flat foot: draw a line vertically from the calf to the ground, the heel bone will evert and the inner bone of the foot plate will collapse
We ask for your understanding, Physiotherapist Chen Yinian, and hope that readers can re-read issue 154 in order to obtain a more complete source of knowledge and understand and care about the growth and development of your children!