The long-awaited joy of the birth of a baby in some mothers is overshadowed by the appearance of pain in the joints. According to statistics, every second woman notes that her joints hurt after childbirth.

Most often, pain occurs in the knees and hip joints. Less often. Two questions naturally arise: why is this happening and what should be done about it? Let's try to figure it out.

Musculoskeletal system during pregnancy

To begin with, it is necessary to dwell on the main normal changes in the mobile joints (joints) and bones during pregnancy. During pregnancy, the unborn child is completely dependent on the mother. It is her body that ensures its proper growth and development.

If, for example, there is not enough calcium in the diet of a pregnant woman, then its supply to the growing fetus will be provided from the bone tissue of the expectant mother. This reduces bone density and may cause pain in them.

Also, during pregnancy, weight increases noticeably and, accordingly, the load on the spine and joints, especially the legs, increases. And the hormone relaxin produced during pregnancy helps to relax the ligaments of the pelvic bones, thereby facilitating the process of the future passage of the child through the birth canal.

All these factors do not have the best effect on the condition of the joints and spine. And if the expectant mother had any joint diseases before pregnancy, then their condition during this period can noticeably worsen.

Why does it hurt in the joints after childbirth?

All changes in the musculoskeletal system during pregnancy occurred gradually. After giving birth, a woman's body changes overnight. It sometimes takes several months for reverse changes to occur.

Joint changes

During childbirth, a woman experiences an enormous load on the muscles and some joints of the back, parts of the lower extremities and abdomen. During the postpartum period, the posture is still changed, the abdominal muscles are stretched, the ligaments of the joints are relaxed. That is why the joints of the legs, especially the hips and knees, experience a great load when walking during this period.

household chores

An additional load on the knees and other joints of the legs and arms is given by the physical activities associated with caring for the baby and housekeeping. After pregnancy and difficult childbirth, the body is weakened, and even such physical activity can lead to injury and pain in the knees and other joints of the lower and upper extremities.

Newborn

In the process of caring for the baby, the mother performs many movements: she wears it in her arms, swaddles, feeds, bathes, etc. All this creates an unusual load on the spine and on almost all joints of the arms and legs.

Also, quite often, a young mother has to lower and raise a stroller with a baby, or it may have handles that are not suitable for growth. In this case, wrists often occur.

Wearing uncomfortable shoes, especially during long walks with a child, can cause pain in the knees and small joints of the legs.

Breast-feeding

As you know, the best food for a baby, especially a newborn, is breast milk. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. And then, along with rational complementary foods, continue breastfeeding for up to two years or more.

However, with insufficient intake of vitamins and minerals from food into the body of a nursing mother, she may experience problems.

So, according to some reports, a woman during breastfeeding loses up to 6% of calcium reserves. And with a deficiency in the intake of calcium and vitamin D, osteoporosis can begin to develop. One of the manifestations of this condition is just the occurrence of pain in the spine and joints of the legs and arms.

What to pay attention to

It must be understood that all the causes of pain that were discussed above are more or less physiological. And, subject to certain recommendations, they disappear on their own.

Sometimes it happens that joint pain after childbirth is a sign of developing arthritis or arthrosis. These diseases can occur against the background of infection, weakening of the immune system, which is often found in the postpartum period. They can also be the result of undiagnosed articular pathology before or during pregnancy.

In such cases, only a doctor should establish the correct diagnosis and prescribe adequate treatment, taking into account breastfeeding.

What to do?

In order to minimize all the discomfort in the body of a young mother, you must follow a few simple recommendations. Their observance will greatly facilitate the care of the child and the recovery of the body after childbirth.

So what is a young mother to do?

1. First of all, regular rest is needed, especially in the first few months after childbirth. And the more often, the better. The husband and other people should be involved in daily household chores (cleaning, cooking, washing, etc.).
2. You should rest in a horizontal position, placing a small pillow or roller under your feet.
3. It is useful to do self-massage of hands and feet.
4. Nutrition must be complete. It is necessary to include in the diet such products that contain a lot of calcium in their composition - cottage cheese, cheese, milk, etc. The intake of calcium-containing drugs should be discussed with the doctor.
5. The position for feeding the baby should be correct and comfortable. This creates less stress on the joints of the hands and spine. Such positions are usually taught in antenatal clinics and in the maternity hospital.
6. Make sure the weight being lifted is light. You need to learn how to lift weights correctly. In this case, the back should be straight, and the main load falls on the muscles of the legs and abdominals.
7. It is necessary to do morning exercises and feasible physical exercises. Their complex and volume should be clarified with a gynecologist, taking into account the peculiarities of the course of childbirth and the postpartum period.
8. You should adjust the handles of the stroller, wear comfortable shoes for a walk.
9. If, with the observance of all such measures, the joint pain does not disappear, it is necessary to consult your doctor.

You should also immediately seek medical help if swelling or redness appears in the places of pain, the temperature rises, or pain intensifies. All these manifestations may indicate serious joint diseases.

What a shame when, instead of the long-awaited relief after childbirth and a flying gait, another pain comes. My knees hurt, my legs hurt, my joints hurt, in a word - a wreck. Caring for a child turns from a joyful duty into a necessary hard work, when once again you get up with a creak and somehow hobble to the crib with a crying baby, stretching out your sick limbs towards the baby with a suffering look. Why does this happen and what to do?

How do joints hurt?

Most often, the feeling of "broken trough" after childbirth comes from the knees, feet and joints of the hands. It is hard to get up and squat, take the child in your arms, unclench your fingers. Also, a large number of women complain of aching pain in the back, elbows, hands, fingers. It is usually very difficult to get up in the morning and it takes time to get into the process of daily activities to disperse and stretch.

Pain can occur both immediately after childbirth, and after a few months. Even more mystery is brought by negative tests for rheumatism, arthritis and other diseases of the joints, and calcium is normal. For some, such a painful condition goes away on its own after 3-4 months, while for someone it drags on for a year or even more.

Possible causes of joint pain

- Change in posture, weakening of muscles and ligaments.

One of the possible reasons due to which the legs hurt after childbirth, and in particular, the knees and feet, is the increased load on them and the inability to quickly rebuild the musculoskeletal system. During pregnancy, there was a gradual restructuring of the body under an increasing load along with the baby growing in the stomach - the abdominal muscles and ligaments were stretched and weakened under the influence of hormones, the posture in various parts of the spine changed.

With the birth of a child, these changes did not disappear immediately, and the constant wearing and feeding in uncomfortable positions of a rapidly growing child in her arms add fuel to the fire. Changed posture, unusual and unusual physical load on weakened and overloaded muscles and ligaments when caring for a newborn force neighboring muscles to work to compensate for stress on the joints, performing work that is uncharacteristic for them.

At least 50% of all women in the postpartum period face the problem of discomfort and pain in the joints. This is especially true for young mothers who practice natural feeding of the child. Such a condition not only has a negative impact on the quality of life, but also interferes with the normal care of a newborn baby.

Not every nursing woman can afford to regularly visit the hospital for a comprehensive examination of the body, however, joint pain in the postpartum period requires timely diagnosis and comprehensive treatment. In addition, when breastfeeding, there are a number of restrictions on taking medications, so the use of certain drugs should be agreed with a medical specialist.

The influence of pregnancy and lactation on the state of the musculoskeletal system

The process of bearing a child is accompanied by a number of changes in the body of a woman. The global restructuring of the hormonal background affects the exchange of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D3, as a result of which osteoporosis often develops in young mothers and pregnant women. During breastfeeding, the female body uses its own reserves to saturate milk with vitamins and minerals, so lactation very often leads to an aggravation of the deficiency of certain biologically active elements.

In addition, in the process of bearing a child, a woman increases the load on the osteoarticular apparatus, which is fraught with the appearance of joint pain in the postpartum period. Breastfeeding women very often complain of pain in the lower back, knee and elbow joints, as well as in the pelvic area.

The specifics of caring for a newborn baby plays an important role in the formation of joint pain. Another common cause of joint pain during breastfeeding is the extra weight that a young mother got from the period of bearing a child. But, despite this, there are methods that help a nursing mother lose weight without harm to the baby. We talk about them in the article at the link.

Pathological causes of joint pain

Before the onset of pregnancy or in the process of bearing a child, one or another pathology of the musculoskeletal system could have formed in the female body, which made itself felt during lactation. There are such pathological conditions that can cause joint pain in lactating women:

1. Rheumatoid arthritis. During pregnancy, the clinical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis remain invisible, and in the process of breastfeeding, it is fully revealed;
2. Ankylosing spondylitis. This disease often develops in women during pregnancy. Clinical symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis are usually regarded as a manifestation of general body fatigue. With this disease, pain disturbs a woman in the lumbar region, in the joints of the hands, hip joints and in the lower jaw;
3. reactive arthritis. This disease is a consequence of previously transferred infectious pathologies. If during pregnancy a woman suffered an infectious and inflammatory disease, then during lactation she may experience symptoms of reactive arthritis.

If joint pain occurs, a nursing mother should pay attention to the presence of the following signs:

• Increased body temperature and signs of general intoxication of the body (including chills);
• Deforming changes in the joints, local redness of the skin and the presence of edema;
• Headache, dizziness, fatigue and general weakness.

These symptoms indicate the development of a generalized inflammatory process of an infectious or autoimmune nature. These clinical manifestations are the reason for the immediate appeal to a medical specialist.

Diagnostics

If you experience pain in the joints of a nursing woman, you should immediately contact a medical specialist. In order to make a reliable diagnosis, a woman will be prescribed the following types of examination:

• General clinical analysis of blood and urine;
• Biochemical blood test;
• X-ray examination of a particular joint (if necessary);
• Laboratory analysis for infectious pathogens.

Treatment

Not all drugs can be used for therapeutic purposes in women during breastfeeding. If, in the opinion of the doctor, the risk to the health of the mother is a priority, then the lactating woman is advised to interrupt natural feeding for the entire period of therapy. Depending on the cause that provoked joint pain in a nursing woman, a medical specialist prescribes the following treatment options:

• Lotions and compresses from medicines;
• Drug therapy, which includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticosteroids, chondroprotectors, muscle relaxants and;
• Methods of hardware physiotherapy (UHF, electrophoresis, magnetotherapy, paraffin applications);
• A complex of therapeutic gymnastic exercises;
• Herbal preparations that do not affect the lactation process;
• Therapeutic massage sessions.

In addition, for lactating women who suffer from joint pain, it is important to review the diet. It is necessary to discuss the composition of the diet with the attending physician, since nutritional restrictions should not affect the qualitative and quantitative composition of breast milk. In the process of lactation, you should not practice self-medication, since the use of certain pharmaceutical and folk remedies can lead to a deterioration in the general condition and adversely affect the body of a newborn child.

Symptoms indicate a violation in the work of any organ and the state of the body as a whole. That is, before recommending an ointment for joints during breastfeeding, it is necessary to find out for what reason the breastfeeding mother had pain. It is also important to determine whether it is a physiological factor or a disease. To do this, you need to go to the hospital, undergo a diagnosis, find out the cause and receive appropriate treatment.

Causes of joint pain in a nursing mother

A woman after childbirth has reduced immunity, she is in a stressful state, and certain factors of a physiological or non-physiological nature contribute to the development of diseases.

The most commonly affected joints and body parts are:

• Legs. During the period of bearing a child, a large load falls on the lower limbs. Having given birth, a woman spends all her days on her feet taking care of the baby, it is for these reasons that her knees hurt the first few weeks after childbirth.
• Hand joints. When carrying a child, feeding, household chores, there is a huge load on the joints of the fingers and hands of the limbs.
• Neck. The causes of pain are: incorrect wearing of the sling, incorrect tilt during breastfeeding, uncomfortable sleeping position.
• Back. The spinal muscles are very weakened after childbirth and take on all the load until the pelvic bones and abs are restored.

Physiology

During pregnancy, the load on the spine increases significantly.

Pregnancy is the happiest moment in a woman's life, but it is overshadowed by a significant load on the internal organs, which has a negative impact on the health of the mother. During pregnancy and childbirth, the center of gravity shifts, pain in the joints occurs. During the first 2 months after the birth of the baby, the mother's body is restored, until the moment when the movable joints return to their previous state. And also in the postpartum period, the gait changes, stretched abdominal muscles and weak articular ligaments return to their original state. As a result, the knees and hip joints are subjected to undue stress.

Hormones in breastfeeding mothers

Restoration of hormonal levels is a long process, which is influenced by a large number of factors:

• schedule;
• daily diet;
• psycho-emotional state;
• ecological situation;
• transmitted viral infections.

The fragility of the articular joints provokes an overestimated rate of relaxin.

After childbirth, hormonal changes occur in the body. Under the influence of an increased level of the hormone relaxin, which increased tenfold by the time of birth, the ligaments become soft, elastic, and allow the pelvic bones to be mobile and move apart. But since the action of the hormone extends not only to the pelvic ligaments, the rest also weaken. A woman during lactation is at risk for strain or injury, because relaxin after the birth of a child decreases for a long time.

joint inflammation

This is a reaction of the body, which occurs most often under the influence of bacteria. The inflammatory process mainly affects the ankles, wrists, hips and knuckles. Diseases develop in which the joint space decreases, the hands and other joints. Pathologies include: bursitis, synovitis, periarthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, rheumatism. General symptoms:

• sharp pain;
• skin redness, swelling.
• crunch;
• joint deformity;
• local rise in temperature.

calcium deficiency

Calcium-containing foods should be included in the daily diet.

The child through breast milk receives from the mother all the vitamins necessary for him. To avoid depletion of the mother's body, it is necessary to monitor the sufficient intake of important trace elements, including calcium. For a day, you need to get at least 1.5 g of Ca from foods. The lack of a microelement in the body can be replenished from a balanced and nutritious diet. In the diet of a nursing mother, you need to add: cottage cheese, yogurt, peas, beans, sesame seeds, apples, bananas and pumpkin. The following symptoms indicate a lack of calcium:

• pain in the muscles of the limbs;
• cramps in the calf muscles;
• spasm of the limbs;
• fragility of nails and hair;
• crumbling of teeth.

The human body has almost as many joints as there are days in a year! Think about how many potential pain centers are sitting inside us. Painful sensations and so bother women in the postpartum period. And if the joints still rebelled ...

From this article you will learn:

Every second woman in labor complains of pain in the movable joints. The most common concerns are the joints:

• back;
• arms: shoulders, elbows, wrists;
• hip.

Causes may be due to physiological factors or diseases.

Physiology

At the birth of a child, the joints are decently displaced. The load of excess weight on the spine and legs is added. Back pain is caused by another shift in the center of gravity. The spine may even curve forward. The vast majority of women have pain in their legs after childbirth.

During pregnancy, the cartilage of bone tissue becomes soft and swollen. Any incorrect position of the parts of the body of the woman in labor causes pain. It also arises from the desire of mobile joints to return back. This will pass as soon as the connections take their usual place. The condition usually returns to normal in a maximum of two months.

Diseases

• Excessive divergence of the pelvic bones or coccyx injury. Such damage can happen during childbirth. More often after childbirth, the hip joint hurts.
• Inflammation. It is observed if edema has appeared in the foci of pain or the temperature has risen. Usually fixed with a prolonged pain syndrome. Symptoms point to arthritis or arthrosis.
• dormant disease. It manifests itself because pregnancy and childbirth deplete the body, making many organs and systems vulnerable.
• Deficiency of calcium, potassium and magnesium. Since the mineral reserves of the body are directed to the development and further feeding of the baby, there is a shortage of these substances in the mother's joints.
• Frequent and prolonged carrying of weights. A woman is allowed to lift no more than three kilograms. But the weight of the baby initially exceeds this norm. Moreover, mom has to take, lower and raise a heavy stroller.

Sometimes the causes of unbearable sensations can be uncomfortable shoes for mom or stroller handles that are not suitable for her height. At the same time, women in labor complain more that the joints of the hands and wrists hurt after childbirth.

Action plan

There are only a couple of things you can do on your own:

• Make sure that the weight of the lifted objects is small. Even a child should be lifted less often and held for a short time. If possible, ask dad or family to serve your baby while you are sitting or lying down.
• Assess how comfortable shoes, wheelchair device and other household items are.

If you have taken action, and the pain does not recede, then contact a gynecologist or therapist. The latter may refer you to a rheumatologist or traumatologist. Do not put off a visit to the doctor, hoping that the pain will disappear at the end of the postpartum period.

It happens that diseases are added to the physiological state. And they require immediate treatment, because over time the situation only gets worse.

After you complain about pain in the joints after childbirth, an examination with diagnostics is carried out. Some of the following assignments are given:

• taking vitamin complexes with Ca, Mg and K;
• healthy lifestyle;
• moderation in nutrition;
• gymnastic exercises;
• manual therapy;
• exercise therapy and massage;
• acupuncture;
• wearing a bandage;
• elastic bandage;
• orthopedic mattress.

Before prescribing medicines, tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding so that he takes this into account when prescribing drugs.

Among them are common:

• anti-inflammatory herbs;
• thermal plaster;
• cream or gel "Dolgit";
• ointment, tablets, capsules for the treatment of joints.

• proper nutrition during pregnancy;
• permissible, and not excessive weight gain of a pregnant woman;
• physical education classes.

You can continue fitness classes three months after the birth of the baby or earlier if you feel good and want to move more. The main thing is to do without sudden loads.

It happens

For some, the pain disappeared after the resumption of menstruation, with the onset of a new pregnancy, or after the cessation of breastfeeding. However, you should not deliberately wean a child from the breast until alternative methods have been tried. Hanging on the horizontal bar helps to stretch the back.

Pain is typical for the second and subsequent births due to the not very young age of the mother. There are age-related changes in the musculoskeletal system. In rheumatoid arthritis, the patches make the pain worse. And uncontrolled intake of calcium-containing drugs can cause premature ossification of cartilage in a child with overgrowth of the fontanel.

Have you noticed that after the birth of a child, the joints hurt? Try to find out the cause by investigation. There are only two things you can fix on your own. In other cases, go to the doctor. The above medical recommendations and prescriptions are for reference only. Take preventive measures to avoid recurrence.