DEVELOPING AND NURTURING a new life is an amazing process. But it’s also a stressful one. From mood swings to aches and pains popping up all over, pregnancy can be a lot to handle. The added weight and work of carrying a baby can cause swelling, restless leg syndrome, leg cramps, joint pain, and more. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to alleviate some of those painful symptoms so that you can better enjoy your journey into motherhood.
Swelling and Restless Leg Syndrome
During pregnancy, swelling and restless leg syndrome can be caused by the weight of the baby pushing on the veins that supply your lower legs with the blood they need. This causes a decrease in your circulation, which causes additional fluids to build up in the leg and muscle tissues. Restless leg syndrome may occur as a response to the swelling caused by pregnancy. Your body wants to regulate the fluid build-up in your legs, and as a response, begins to try to activate the lower leg muscles to aid in circulation. This can be a very uncomfortable sensation.
For pregnancies in the second and third trimesters, this is a very common and completely normal occurrence. However, if your swelling is around the hands and face rather than around the legs and ankles, reach out to your doctor. This can be a sign of a serious condition called preeclampsia.
Alleviating symptoms of swollen or restless legs caused by pregnancy can be as easy as hydration, elevation, and compression when they’re caused by pregnancy. Hydration is necessary for getting the right amount of circulation and it becomes even more important with pregnancy. Your body is supplying blood and fluids for two and that demands additional water.
Elevation makes a difference because all that swelling and restlessness is caused by insufficient blood in some places and too much in others. Lifting your legs makes gravity work with you to get that circulation up and steady. Finally, there’s compression.
Pregnancy socks help avoid and combat the causes of both conditions in your legs and ankles. This is because they activate your leg muscles using a light compression which encourages healthy blood flow and lowers the demand of your baby’s development on your heart. Compression socks for pregnancy also hold your foot and ankle in proper alignment to stop fluids from pooling in the legs to begin with.
Leg Cramps and Joint Pain
Much like swelling, leg cramps and joint pain are caused by how the weight of the baby sits on top of the veins and nerves that help your legs do everything they should. This obstruction can cause a lack of blood flow and nutrients in the muscular tissue of your lower legs as well as around the knee and ankle joints.
Some believe that this is also caused by the differences in how your body is processing calcium and magnesium while growing your baby. As the muscles in your legs begin to run low on the vitamins, hydration, and blood they need to move smoothly they cramp. As the veins find it harder to push blood through your legs and swelling begins, fluid gets stuck in and around the joints causing uncomfortable pressure and stiffness.
Fixing all this can be as simple as returning proper blood flow to your legs. However, that simple answer has a complicated solution. Since the added pressure is due to the weight and placement of your baby, you can’t simply move it around to get your legs back up and running. Pregnancy socks are the next best thing.
As your legs are a bit far from your heart and already fighting the pull of gravity to keep your blood moving as it should, they’re going to need some outside help to get your circulation where it needs to be. Compression socks for pregnancy can activate your muscles and keep your veins moving to avoid the painful blockages that cause joint pain, while also allowing your blood to better supply those cramped leg muscles with the nutrients they need.
Pregnancy Dizziness
Just as poor circulation can weaken your legs, it can do the same to your head. The dizziness you feel during pregnancy has much the same causes as when your vision goes dark if you get up too fast, your heart isn’t pumping blood fast enough to keep your body functioning as smoothly as it should.
That’s why dizziness caused by pregnancy gets stronger when you shift positions or stand, your circulation has to readjust to how gravity and other pressures are pulling it. Pregnancy impacts your normal blood flow because your body demands more nutrients to keep you healthy and your baby growing, while at the same time needing more support to hold up the extra weight of that baby.
So how can pregnancy socks help your head? In exactly the same way that they help your legs. As your compression socks for pregnancy work to normalize the blood flow in your lower legs, they take that burden off the heart so that more of its efforts can go into helping the rest of your body stay healthy and strong. This combats dizziness and blood clots and helps keep your baby safe and growing at the rate they should.
Conclusion: Wearing Compression Socks for Pregnancy Works
When it comes to it, pregnancy compression socks can be key to both health and comfort. Supporting your leg muscles and heart at the same time to ensure proper blood flow despite the increased burden on your body's systems as you bring a whole new life into the world.
Some of the most common symptoms of pregnancy are swelling, joint pain, leg cramping, restless leg syndrome, and dizziness, and all of them can be effectively treated by pregnancy socks.