What to do if leg joints hurt after giving birth

Many mothers do not take good care of their bodies after giving birth, and are very likely to experience various discomforts. For example, after giving birth, you may feel pain in your leg joints. What should you do? In fact, this situation is likely due to problems with the bones, muscles, or knee joints. As for the specific reasons for leg joint pain after giving birth, please see the following content.

Musculoskeletal pain in pregnant women is indeed uncommon!

Pregnancy is a period of many physical and physiological changes. Pregnant women must provide the nutrition and environment needed by the fetus. Pregnant women themselves also need to adapt to their new body shape and changes in their hormonal environment. for example:

1. Pregnant women must go through a period of significant weight gain. As the fetus grows and develops, the pregnant woman's center of gravity also changes significantly. The change in body weight and center of gravity causes excessive lumbar lordosis, forward flexion of the neck, and downward movement of the shoulders.

2. Pregnant women’s limb joints and spinal joints become noticeably loose. This leads to instability in the lumbar spine and limb joints, which can easily lead to skeletal and musculoskeletal injuries.

3. In preparation for childbirth, there is a significant increase in the anterior tilt of the pelvis, which leads to overuse of the pelvic muscles that maintain body balance. In preparation for the birth canal, the sacroiliac joints and pubic symphysis widen and become more mobile.

4. Pregnant women will have obvious fluid retention. This fluid retention will not only cause weight gain, but also cause edema and compression of soft tissues such as nerves and muscles, leading to damage.

5. Hormonal changes that trigger bone and calcium metabolism, which are necessary for fetal growth and development. For example, parathyroid hormone undergoes periodic fluctuations. In old China, pregnant women in the north often suffered from severe osteoporosis in winter because the fetus took away calcium from their bodies, and some even had loose and falling teeth.

Taken together, the above physiological changes trigger a series of maternal-related musculoskeletal pains.

Knee pain: As mentioned above, changes in posture, weight gain, and increased ligament laxity can all contribute to knee pain. Knee ligament laxity occurs in the second half of pregnancy, when significant maternal weight gain also occurs. Therefore, symptoms often become prominent at this time. Knee pain often improves significantly 4 months after delivery. Failure to regain weight increases the risk of continued knee pain in women who have just given birth.