Woman’s Passions

It’s not a secret for anyone that pregnancy is not only a period of happy expectation, but also time of abrasion testing for your organism. If you have predisposition to some diseases, then you have all chances to know about it right now, during pregnancy. And problems with nervous system are included. Let’s speak about most popular symptoms, saying that your “nervous balance” is shaken.

Headache.
Headache is most popular problem for both “non-pregnant” and pregnant women. If you suffered from headache in your usual life, it is quite probable that your condition will redouble in 1-2 trimester. However, by 25th week you will start forgetting about headaches. “Where headaches come from, are they dangerous, and should I treat or endure them?” - these are most popular question of future mothers.
According to statistics, up to 90% of pregnant women’s headaches - is a tension headache or migraine. Do you suffer from light or moderate headache, it is double-sided, continues from several dozens of minutes till several days? Sometimes it is not even pain, but a sensation of pressure, bursting open, compression of scalp? It appears as a result of long tension of muscles of base of skull and scalp, that’s why it is called tension headache. It is known to many people.
If you suffer from fits of intensive, pulsatile headache, which seizes half of head, is situated in coronal, temporal area or eye-socket, then, most likely you have migraine. If such fit is accompanied by sickness, vomiting, fear of sound and light, if you are in captivity of prodrome before its beginning - diagnosis can be confirmed.

It is necessary to note, that tension headache itself or migraine have no negative influence on passing of pregnancy and development of fetus. To prevent appearance of this disease are relieve your condition, you need to observe several basic rules:

1. Lead healthy way of living with maximum of staying on fresh air and minimum of sitting in a stuffy room. Form a habit of everyday walking, better not along highways, but along park paths or forest tracks. If you have to stay at work for a long time, arrange regular 5-minutes breaks with obligatory room ventilation. And while your window is open, do a couple of exercises. These grips will satiate your organism with oxygen and bring you optimism to you.

2. Pay attention to your sleep. It will be good to arrange an afternoon sleep, if your work allows. A small pack of herbs, hidden in a pillow, will make your dreams pleasant, and result deserving. Vivacity during whole following day is guaranteed to you.

3. Including physical loads is necessary for your daily schedule. Attending special gymnastics or dances for pregnant will be ideal. Such classes will not only strengthen your organism, prepare it for childbirth, but also will bring you lots of positive emotions, acquaintances with “colleagues” in future maternity.

4. Learn methods of relaxation, respiratory exercises. Probably, with their help you will cope with headache without taking medicines. Spend your efforts on learning such methods, and you won’t be sorry. Doing relaxation exercises easily, you will be able to turn from a worn out woman into a smiling mommy, ready for new life turns, in 15 minutes.

5. If intensity of headache is high, and non-medicament methods bring no positive effect, you shouldn’t refuse from pain relievers completely. Believe, a pill will bring much less harm to your baby, than your gloomy mood, which will be passed to him too.

6. Remedies, pregnant women can take: simple pain relievers (for example: paracetamol, analgin), in case of necessity - caffeine. Undesirable medicines - aspirin and its analogues, ergotamines (they are often included in medicines against migraine). But, even if you know these nuances, don’t forget to consult your doctor.

You should definitely consult a doctor, if:

1. Headache becomes more frequent or more intensive.

2. Headache increases while change of position, straining, during night time.

3. Headache is accompanied by impossibility to bend head, temperature, worsening of sight.

Pain in back.
Second popular problem - is pains in waist. Almost 50% of future mothers suffer from persistent pains in the area of waist, sometimes coming to a leg. Such troubles usually appear on terms after 20 weeks and are connected with increase of load on backbone due to strengthening of lumbar lordosis and stopping of belly muscles’ functions in support of correct bearing. If pains are rather intensive, come to a hip joint, anterior surface of hip, this means that your sacroiliac joint protests.

If you feel lumbagos from hip to foot, this means a root of spinal nerve is touched. This may happen, for example, in case of discal hernia. Methods of diagnostics during pregnancy are quite limited. In cases of absolute necessity while undecided reason and ineffective treatment of pains in waist they prefer magnetic resonance imaging.

What to do with pains in back?

1. Since early terms of pregnancy (and better before it too) do special gymnastics, strengthening muscles of back and abdomen.

2. Learn standing, sitting and bending correctly, as very often pain in back may firstly appear right after unsuccessful lacing of shoes.

3. Turn work and rest lying with slightly lifted feet.

4. Wear bandage, if you are going to do high static load (for example, you will be standing for a long on your work).

5. In case of intense pains take simple pain relievers.

6. Massage of sacrum and waist, usage of various ointments, based on nonsteroid resolvents are not recommended.

Compression neuropathy.
Between bones of wrists and palmar ligaments there’s a channel, where median nerve is situated. It controls sensibility of 1-4 fingers of hand. During pregnancy about 20% of women suffer from so-called carpal channel syndrome, when median nerve is trapped in carpal channel due to general hold-up of liquid in organism. Women complain of paresthesia of fingers of hand, which appear in cases, when hand is in one position for a long (at night, while driving, reading). While shaking sensation of paresthesia becomes weaker. Sometimes patients note reduction of general sensibility of fingers; they feel like their fingers became thicker. Do you have similar symptoms? Test yourself. Bend your hand sharply or knock on inner side of wrist. Do you feel paresthesia? If so, then it is quite probable that you have a carpal channel syndrome.

How to struggle with them? An answer is clear: remove provoking factors. Scheduled balanced nutrition, avoiding of stress situations, enough rest for organism will reduce cramps chances to minimum. In case when you cannot avoid loads, lie on a sofa after them and lift your legs high - this way you will provide adequate venous drainage and reduce content of harmful products of exchange in muscles. Contrast water procedures will also help you, enjoy them, but don’t go too far! During muscular spasm itself, contract antagonistic muscle or stretch passively the one that worries you. For example, if you have spasm of gastrocnemius muscle - you can contract muscles of front surface of shank, stretching toe on you. Or you can stretch gastrocnemius muscle, massaging it slightly. As for medicines, which will help you to relieve cramps, take preparations of calcium, magnesium and folacin. But don’t start therapy by yourself, consult your gynaecologist for sure!

Finally, we would like to wish healthy mothers (present and future) to avoid diseases, described above. Use advices on preventive measures, and you will never face such problems. As for those, who are familiar with neurologic troubles, - cheer up! Observe doctors’ recommendations, believe in yourself, smile, and diseases will step back! Stay healthy!