Pregnancy & Maternity: Why Your Leg Health Is Essential by Nicole McCray
Pregnancy is a natural thing that many women go through. But just because it comes naturally doesn’t mean there aren’t hard aspects of it. One of these challenges is carrying extra weight. Your legs bear the brunt of this. But maintaining leg health is critical to having a healthy pregnancy. Most women don’t understand the exact science behind their legs feeling achy, which is also why they may struggle to address these issues.
Here we can talk about what causes certain leg health obstacles during pregnancy and why it is essential to be proactive about it. Plus, let’s take a look at what proactive looks like.
What is Happening to Your Feet and Legs?
Whether you feel like your ankles are swollen, or you can just see it in plain sight, this is a common side effect for pregnant women. This is because our bodies produce excess blood and fluid in our legs to support the baby. As a result, our circulation slows down. Blood then accumulates, and it can cause the swelling we are familiar with.
Our bodies are continually producing relaxin. This natural chemical causes the pelvic muscles to relax to prepare our bodies for giving birth. This loosens the tendons and ligaments in your feet which cause them to lengthen, flatten, and widen. Ultimately you may feel less supported.
So, why does this matter?
Why Maintain Your Leg Health During Pregnancy
There are many reasons you should maintain your leg health during pregnancy. All of them will have a direct impact on your overall physical health. However, it’s essential to know that your mental health can affect both positively and negatively depending on your state of physical health.
Here are some common reasons why leg health is vital during pregnancy.
Allowing yourself to become more immobile every day because of leg pain can actually worsen the situation and feelings in your legs, ankles, and feet. While rest is important, not moving your legs around can cause even more build-up of blood and even, in some cases, run the risk of blood clots.
Regular exercise during pregnancy has been studied, and the results have proven that it has a positive impact on women’s mental and physical health. For example, the chances of depression during or after pregnancy decreases because of the release of endorphins.
Exercise is good for your heart health and the baby’s health. It also makes a recovery after giving birth easier than if you were inactive during pregnancy. In addition, maintaining a healthy weight can help with back pain that develops from carrying a child.
So, what can we do to help with the pain!
Tips and Tricks to Maintain Your Leg Health While Pregnant
We have already hinted that exercise is important to help maintain your leg health while pregnant. However, inflammation and pain will still arise, so working with other methods is also helpful.
Exercise
Exercise is one of the best ways to break up lactic acid and improve blood circulation. It also can improve your sleep and digestive system. The problem that can be pretty contradictory is that it can increase inflammation. This results in many pregnant women not knowing what to do in terms of how much to exercise.
The balance between being active and resting can be tricky but is crucial to your health. The more you exercise, the easier it becomes. This leads to fighting inflammation. First, let’s talk about compression socks.
Compression Socks
Compression socks have a number of great benefits from reducing inflammation and getting rid of the aches and pains that are floating around in your legs. You can wear compression socks while sleeping, relaxing, or even working out to control the inflammation during pregnancy and even after that.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Whether using a device like a Theragun or seeing a licensed therapist, this is great for your leg health. This can help break up lactic acids and remove some of the inflammation. It’s also incredibly relaxing for yourself as a whole.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is becoming increasingly more popular with everyone, let alone expecting mothers. Acupuncture can offer some of the benefits of compression socks, such as alleviating pain. However, it can also help with digestion and improved sleep. These two other factors can also impact your motivation to exercise. No one wants to workout when their stomach is constantly upset or sleep-deprived. Studies have shown that acupuncture generally has a very positive effect on the body’s nervous system.
Leg Health and All The Feels
Ideally, every woman who is pregnant wants to feel their best possible going through this journey. But pregnancy can be hard and hard on the body. That’s why being proactive about your health; particularly your leg can make all the difference in how you feel. Understanding what is happening to your body is the first step so you can feel confident about your choices.
If your legs and ankles hurt, it’s not natural to think, “I should go for a walk/,” But if we understand that going for a walk while wearing compression socks can ultimately help us in the long run, we are much more likely to make that healthy decision. Sometimes exercise and compression socks can do the trick, but a little extra self-care can go a long way. Looking at therapy such as massage and acupuncture can also be effective in your recovery.
Regardless of what you decide to try, there will always be some trial and error to find out what works for you. This can be the timing and order of methods you try or even just the process of elimination. Just remember that exercise gets easier the more you do it, and it’s always OK to take a rest.
Nicole McCray is a music teacher. Before she discovered her passion for teaching students how to play their first instrument, Nicole was pinching pennies in her 20s while singing at dive bars across the country. Nowadays, she spends her days contributing to music blogs, parenting forums, and education websites when she’s not providing private music lessons. She finds joy in sharing her insight with musicians, fellow teachers, and parents of musicians-in-training!