Numbness and tingling sensation in the hands and legs is a common complaint during pregnancy. Find more about the causes of tingling sensations during pregnancy. The body goes through a lot of changes during pregnancy. When you are in your sixth month, you can experience a plethora of changes that might overwhelm you, but remember, although it is important that you report anything new or unusual to your doctor, most of the changes are actually ‘normal’. The numbness and tingling sensation in hands and legs are one of them. This is also commonly referred as the feeling of pins and needles.There are two primary points that need to be understood here. During pregnancy, the blood supply of the body is enhanced and you also tend to retain more water. This results in slowness in the venous return of the blood during circulation. As a result the tissues that are surrounding the nerves gets filled up with the fluid and become edematous. This creates a certain amount of pressure on the nerves and causes the numbness. When the nerves around your wrist experience the pressure, it induces a feeling of numbness in your hands. If you notice more carefully, the sensation is predominant in the thumb, the first finger and the middle finger, primarily. In medical terminology, this symptom is known as carpal tunnel syndrome and many pregnant women in their sixth month are found to report this symptom. In other cases, this symptom is mostly found in people who do repetitive jobs using their fingers, like pianists and typists. In this articleThe Tingling Sensation May Not Always be Carpal TunnelTreatment for Carpal Tunnel SyndromeThe Tingling Sensation May Not Always be Carpal Tunnel During pregnancy, you must note and report every single change that is going on in your body. This helps the doctor to diagnose the problem and suggest necessary precautions. In some cases, it has also been observed that this numbness, tingling sensation and feeling of pins and needles are actually caused by certain nutritional deficiencies. When pregnant it is very important that you meet the essential nutritional requirements of your body as your baby is also partaking the nutrition that you are taking in for its growth and development. If there is a marked deficiency of magnesium and or iron, it can result in such tingling sensations in the hands and feet. If the mother is prone to anemia, she will automatically experience these symptoms even more at this stage of her pregnancy. Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Carpal tunnel syndrome is usually treated through behavioural management. This means to bring about a change in lifestyle and developing certain habits. The hands should be allowed to rest quite frequently and avoid any activity that involves the exertion of the wrists and fingers like persistent writing, typing, playing with musical keys or even pressing the keys of video games! But since our current lifestyle may not allow us to do away with certain activities that can enhance the symptoms, one needs to be careful. Like, while typing on the keyboard, the wrists must always be kept at a neutral position and not in an angular one, whether upward or downward. It will ease out the pressure considerably. A wrist splint might be advised in certain cases, and it is advisable to follow the doctor’s advice. Cold compresses can also prove to be beneficial in some cases, if the tingling sensation is too acute, the doctor can opt for cortisone injections. Take care of your diet to avert nutritional deficiencies that might lead to these symptoms. Nuts like almonds and cashew are rich in magnesium and so are leafy greens like spinach. Include peanut butter and halibut in your diet along with some lean red meat and egg yolks. Go for mineral supplements as suggested b your doctor to meet the desired nutritional requirements of pregnancy.
Numbness and tingling sensation in the hands and legs is a common complaint during pregnancy. Find more about the causes of tingling sensations during pregnancy. The body goes through a lot of changes during
pregnancy. When you are in your sixth month, you can experience a plethora of changes that might overwhelm you, but remember, although it is important that you report anything new or unusual to your doctor, most of the changes are actually ‘normal’. The numbness and tingling sensation in hands and legs are one of them. This is also commonly referred as the feeling of pins and needles.
There are two primary points that need to be understood here. During pregnancy, the blood supply of the body is enhanced and you also tend to retain more water. This results in slowness in the venous return of the blood during circulation. As a result the tissues that are surrounding the nerves gets filled up with the fluid and become edematous. This creates a certain amount of pressure on the nerves and causes the numbness.
When the nerves around your wrist experience the pressure, it induces a feeling of numbness in your hands. If you notice more carefully, the sensation is predominant in the thumb, the first finger and the middle finger, primarily. In medical terminology, this symptom is known as carpal tunnel syndrome and many pregnant women in their sixth month are found to report this symptom. In other cases, this symptom is mostly found in people who do repetitive jobs using their fingers, like pianists and typists.
The Tingling Sensation May Not Always be Carpal Tunnel
During pregnancy, you must note and report every single change that is going on in your body. This helps the doctor to diagnose the problem and suggest necessary precautions. In some cases, it has also been observed that this numbness, tingling sensation and feeling of pins and needles are actually caused by certain nutritional deficiencies.
When pregnant it is very important that you meet the essential nutritional requirements of your body as your baby is also partaking the nutrition that you are taking in for its growth and development. If there is a marked deficiency of magnesium and or iron, it can result in such tingling sensations in the hands and feet. If the mother is prone to anemia, she will automatically experience these symptoms even more at this stage of her pregnancy.
Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is usually treated through behavioural management. This means to bring about a change in lifestyle and developing certain habits. The hands should be allowed to rest quite frequently and avoid any activity that involves the exertion of the wrists and fingers like persistent writing, typing, playing with musical keys or even pressing the keys of video games! But since our current lifestyle may not allow us to do away with certain activities that can enhance the symptoms, one needs to be careful. Like, while typing on the keyboard, the wrists must always be kept at a neutral position and not in an angular one, whether upward or downward. It will ease out the pressure considerably.
A wrist splint might be advised in certain cases, and it is advisable to follow the doctor’s advice. Cold compresses can also prove to be beneficial in some cases, if the tingling sensation is too acute, the doctor can opt for cortisone injections.
Take care of your diet to avert nutritional deficiencies that might lead to these symptoms. Nuts like almonds and cashew are rich in magnesium and so are leafy greens like spinach. Include peanut butter and halibut in your diet along with some lean red meat and egg yolks. Go for mineral supplements as suggested b your doctor to meet the desired nutritional requirements of pregnancy.
