Pregnancy is a joyful and long-awaited event for many, which requires increased attention, as well as active work of the woman’s entire body. Over time, the expectant mother begins to complain that her finger joints hurt during pregnancy. And this can happen at any stage of an interesting situation, and not just in the third trimester, when the fetus is already quite large.
This condition is alarming, it requires study and diagnosis. You shouldn’t put off going to the doctor to find out why your fingers hurt when you bend them during pregnancy.
Symptoms
The statistics are disappointing - about 70% have pain in their arm joints during pregnancy. The joints of the back, knees, and elbows may also bother you. If pain is localized in the hands during pregnancy, doctors make a definite diagnosis - “carpal tunnel syndrome.”
This unpleasant condition stops immediately after childbirth, but some mothers continue to suffer from unpleasant sensations for a long time.
If a woman has pain in the bones of her arms during pregnancy, you should not turn a blind eye to it, especially if the discomfort is sharp, pulsating, pulling and does not go away for a long time. They can seriously spoil a woman’s quality of life and cause her a lot of trouble, significantly reducing her physical capabilities. Among the alarming symptoms when the joints of the hands hurt during pregnancy are the following:
- The appearance of burning and itching in the palms and fingers may also begin to bother the forearm;
- Numbness of one or several fingers at once;
- Slight numbness in the hands;
- Weakness in fingers;
- Sudden, sharp, throbbing or increasing pain in the phalanges of the fingers.
Most often, the joints of the fingers hurt during late pregnancy, since the neural tubes can be pinched, causing serious inconvenience.
Hands and arms often hurt during pregnancy, when a woman is used to sleeping with her arms raised. It is enough to get rid of this habit at least before giving birth, and also if numbness appears, stretch your fingers, move your arms, hands, etc. The sensitivity of the limbs will return.
Possible symptoms
When the joints of the hands hurt during pregnancy, women most often complain of the following manifestations:
- feelings of tightness and aches;
- fingers do not bend and become “wooden”;
- pain in the phalangeal joints, which intensifies when clenching and unclenching your fingers into a fist or when trying to take an object;
- burning, tingling and/or itching in the wrist, hand joints, and palms;
- painful “lumbago” between the elbow and wrist joints;
- weak finger grip, especially adduction or flexion of the thumb;
- swelling, swelling;
- numbness of one finger, all fingers or the hand as a whole.
For your information. All of these symptoms can appear with varying degrees of severity and intensity during the day, and also depend on the etiology of their occurrence.
Possible reasons
The doctor to whom the woman turns has to decide why her hands hurt during pregnancy. And a decision about the causes of pathology should be made taking into account its localization. If your hands hurt during pregnancy in the forearms, that’s one thing, but another thing is that the pain is localized in the phalanges of the fingers. It can be caused by psychosomatic disorders, but most often pathologies become the causes.
It is after conception that the body begins a wild restructuring, when all organs and mechanisms begin to work in a special mode. This can become a catalyst for the resumption of chronic diseases.
The doctor faces an important task - to find out why fingers hurt during pregnancy. Among the main reasons:
- Serious deficiency of vitamin D and calcium in the body. This is due to the fact that this particular mineral is simply vital for the fetus to actively develop.
- Arthritis.
- Osteochondrosis.
- Tunnel syndrome.
- Injuries received. They can be long-standing, but become painful sensations again only during pregnancy.
- Physiological changes.
- Excessive release of a special hormone – relaxin. It is he who is responsible for ensuring that the woman’s birth goes without any changes, and that the child can be born naturally. Relaxin softens bones and joints, making them flexible and elastic. Excessive secretion can cause painful sensations. It is he who is often responsible for pain in the joints of the hands during pregnancy.
Causes and appropriate treatments
The joints of the arms and legs hurt during pregnancy for various reasons. However, in most expectant mothers, pain manifestations are physiological.
They are caused by the load that the female body experiences during gestation, therefore, after childbirth, such phenomena will gradually, and quite quickly, disappear on their own.
Edema and calcium deficiency
In half of the cases, pain in the joints of the hands and feet in pregnant women is caused by swelling and a “banal” lack of calcium. It is intensively spent on the development of the skeletal system in the fetus and is difficult to replenish from the diet, which at this time is highly dependent on the “nutritional whims” of pregnant women. Many people simply feel sick to the point of vomiting from foods containing calcium.
In this case, the obstetrician-gynecologist will prescribe a blood test for total calcium levels. To accurately determine the required dose of calcium gluconate, such an analysis is performed several times at certain intervals.
In general, the treatment regimen for pain caused by edema and calcium deficiency looks like this:
| Treatment method | Recommendations, warnings, explanations |
| If not specified separately, then drink panangin and calcium gluconate - 1 tablet 3 times a day. Do not be afraid to take calcium supplements prescribed by your doctor; they will not cause ossification of the skull in the fetus. Don't drink Calcium D3 Nycomed! It is difficult for a mother to overdose on vitamin D, but it is very easy for a baby. This can damage his kidneys, liver and cardiovascular system. |
| It will seem strange to many, but it is the normalization of clean drinking water consumption to 1.5 liters that will help eliminate swelling. We remind you that this volume does not include liquids - teas, fruit drinks, compotes, jelly, juices, fermented milk drinks and soups. Avoid diuretics, including such dubious ones as no-spa. Instead, pay attention to limiting salt - this gives a quick decongestant effect! |
| Include more fish in your weekly menu - salmon, cod, herring, white tuna fillet. To garnish it, it is better to choose green vegetables. If you can, then eat cottage cheese, drink kefir or yogurt. Choose dairy products with a short shelf life. Consume them separately. This way there is a greater chance that microelements from other foods will not interfere with calcium absorption. Don't forget eggs and liver (vitamin D). |
| During the day you need to do a little but often exercise for the wrist joint and fingers. Increased blood circulation in the hand will help reduce pain. Naturally, you should limit and alternate the types of stress on your hands; when falling asleep, do not place them under your head, and if they become numb during sleep, slowly massage them in the direction from the tips of your fingers to the elbow. |
On a note. It has been noticed in practice that visible results—pregnant women’s hands hurt much less—are felt already on the 4th day after following these recommendations.
Carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnancy
Carpal tunnel neuropathy is one of the common causes of hand pain in the morning.
Tunnel or carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common cause of pain in the joints of the hands during pregnancy in the second and third trimesters.
This condition has characteristic symptoms:
- local tingling of the skin on all fingers of the hand, with the exception of the little finger and the “vertical half” of the ring finger (see photo above);
- impaired sensitivity of the skin on the hand and in the area of the wrist joint;
- numbness of the wrist at night;
- forearm cramps are possible;
- pain in the wrist area, shooting through the thumb;
- deterioration of mobility in the wrist joint and stiffness of the hand;
- loss of amplitude of flexion movements, ensuring accuracy of execution;
- holding light objects in your hands becomes problematic, and lifting heavy objects becomes impossible;
- “tweezer grip” disorder – it is extremely difficult to grasp an object with the thumb and forefinger.
Tunnel neuropathy in the wrist is a consequence of compression of the median nerve of the hand by swollen tissue in the area between the retinaculum and the flexor tendons of the fingers. In the vast majority of pregnant women, carpal tunnel syndrome heals on its own after the birth of the child, but even its mild manifestations require attention and appropriate treatment.
Why and what is the cost of ignoring symptoms? In 1% of women, after the baby is born, the pathology may remain.
Attention! Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disease that affects “ordinary” 35-50 year old women. Unfortunately, the disease cannot be treated with medication, so a severe course, which is accompanied by degeneration of the median nerve, requires a simple, but still surgical operation.
The diagnosis of carpal neuropathy is clarified by a neurologist:
- Prescribes electromyography and ultrasound. The first examination will determine the magnitude of changes that have occurred in the conduction velocity of the median nerve, and the second will determine the degree of degradation of the ligaments and tendons around it.
- Performs Tinel and Phalen tests.
There is nothing dangerous or difficult about testing.
Typical recommendations for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnant women:
| Treatment method | Instructions |
| At night you need to wear special orthoses, compression bandages, or fix the wrist and palm with an elastic bandage. They will help curb the development of swelling during sleep, thereby preventing the occurrence of numbness or severe morning pain. |
| Several times a day you need to perform special exercises to strengthen and develop the elasticity of the tendons of the wrist joint. In your free time, occupy your hands with massage balls. Light self-massage with a drop of cypress will also help reduce the severity of pain. It is especially effective at night. |
| If possible and prescribed by a doctor, undergo a course of physiotherapy - iontophoresis and ultrasound irradiation. Also shown:
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| If a pregnant woman’s work involves typing on a keyboard, the use of special devices will help her perform it. |
| American doctors spent about 2 million dollars and about 3 years to prove that wearing special pads or bracelets with magnets does not have the slightest effect on the course of carpal tunnel syndrome. |
| Diet | The daily menu should include foods and drinks with a high content of B vitamins - flaxseed, brown rice, chicken, vegetables, bananas, oranges, grapefruits, pineapple, juice from white cabbage in half with juice from green apples. Don't forget to limit salt and increase your consumption of clean water to 1.5 liters per day. |
If the above methods are ineffective and the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome cannot be tolerated, the pregnant woman may be offered a corticosteroid injection directly into the carpal tunnel. Don't panic. This procedure is safe for the fetus, and the mother will quickly feel relief.
For your information. In addition to carpal neuropathy, other neuralgia may occur in pregnant women. In the third trimester - this is neuralgia of the lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh, after cesarean section - neuralgia of the femoral nerve, and during the birth of a large fetus or prolonged labor - neuralgia of the obturator nerve.
Features of pain syndrome in fibromyalgia
The attending physician should find out why the hands hurt during pregnancy and can refer the woman for additional examinations to a specialist. When examining his patient and conducting additional research, he will find out why the joints of the fingers hurt during pregnancy, and then he will be able to prescribe adequate treatment or suggest other ways to alleviate his condition.
The cause may be fibrositis or fibromyalgia, which is characterized by finger disease and edematous conditions.
However, there is one important note - with fibrositis, the phalanges of the fingers on both hands often hurt during pregnancy.
The reasons are:
- Stressful situations, as well as serious overstrain of joints and muscles;
- Chronic lack of sleep;
- Release of the hormone somatropin in large quantities during sleep disorders.
It is these women who are often quite anxious; they can fall into depression, suffer from insomnia, depression and weakness in the morning.
Such women may also complain of stiffness, sensitivity to temperature changes, as well as irritable bowel syndrome.
Tunnel (carpal) syndrome: characteristic symptoms
Pain occurs, as already mentioned, due to compression of the median nerve, therefore the most common localization of the syndrome is the fingers (with the exception of the little finger, since its innervation is not carried out by the median nerve, but by the outgoing branches of the ulnar nerve), wrist, palmar surface of the hand .
The period characteristic for the manifestation of this disease, when the left wrist most often hurts, is the 3rd trimester of pregnancy.
The nature of the discomfort is determined by the fact that the hands and wrists hurt, swell and become numb during pregnancy, and sometimes there may be trembling of the fingers.
Added to the above is vasoconstriction, increased sensitivity of the hands to cold, as well as pale skin. The disease most often manifests itself at night, but symptoms may also occur during the day.
If pain occurs in the little finger or on the back of the hand, then this indicates the presence of another disease, since these parts of the hand have different innervation.
Often the syndrome goes away after childbirth. The woman's normal, prenatal metabolism is restored. . However, if the disease remains, then you need to consult a hematologist (nephrologist, neurologist, cardiologist) so that he can prescribe drug therapy. Physiotherapy also helps to avoid frequent pain.
If the situation does not improve, then surgical treatment must be used.
Features of gestational transformation
If your fingers hurt during pregnancy, and the unpleasant sensation is localized in the phalanges, and the pain is dull, these are physiological changes. This condition is quite typical during pregnancy. Among the rationale for its appearance:
- The production of the hormone relaxin is a natural process that allows a woman to prepare for childbirth.
- Calcium deficiency is an important element, which can cause it to be painful for a woman to bend her fingers during pregnancy. The lack of this component leads to the fact that the cartilage tissue begins to gradually loosen.
If your fingers hurt during pregnancy in the third trimester, and the pain itself is concentrated in a certain place, we can talk about gestational restructuring of the body.
Carpal joint syndrome
When your fingers hurt during pregnancy, and the discomfort is accompanied by tingling and numbness, this condition is characteristic of carpal joint syndrome. This is explained by the fact that loosening and swelling of the ligaments leads to compression of the nerve. This can lead to fluid accumulation in the joint, as well as serious pain. Among the characteristic features of the disease:
- Numbness of the first, second, third fingers, increases with exercise;
- Weakness in the fingers, as a result of which the patient cannot hold objects in her hands.
Patients with this syndrome may also drop things, and the disease itself can negatively affect the general condition. That is why treating such a disease on your own is generally not acceptable. If your health suddenly worsens, an unscheduled consultation with your supervising doctor is recommended. He will decide whether to refer you for additional examination by a specialist.