In case you are interested in the pregnancy leg cramps symptoms you should know that these can be defined as painful and radiating spasms that can be felt in the calves. Usually the cramps hit during the night. The sad truth is that nobody really knows why the leg cramps occur.
Causes
There are a lot of theories on what causes the problem. The possible causes include having to carry all that extra weight, the compression of the blood vessels of the legs and the pregnancy diet that usually comes with too much phosphorus and too little calcium and magnesium.
Useful information
The truth is that pregnant women can rest very little and even when they manage, they get bothered by the cramps. Although the cramps can appear during the day as well, they usually affect women at night when fluid retention and fatigue are at their peak.
It is good to know about the pregnancy leg cramps symptoms that they are most common during the second trimester when women gain the most weight not to mention the high levels of fatigue and the swelling. Although people keep telling you to rest, this may become almost impossible because of the cramps.
What to do about the pregnancy leg cramps signs?
It may be useful to step on cold surface to stop the spasms. When the cramps hit, you should just stretch your legs and flex the toes and ankle towards the shins. If these methods don’t work out for you, opt for a pregnancy massage or apply compresses on the affected areas.
Exercises and the pregnancy leg cramps symptoms
In order to fight the warning signs of pregnancy leg cramps you might want to have regular exercises. These will prevent the cramps. You could try standing in front of a wall and then lean against it being supported by your hands, with the heels on the floor. This exercise will stretch the calf muscles. Another good idea may be to put your legs up as often as you can to rest your legs.
As you can see, the pregnancy leg cramps symptoms are quite obvious: sharp pain in the calves that can radiate through your legs. There are a lot of things you could do to avoid the problem and the best thing may be to massage the legs as often as you can.