When knees hurt after childbirth, what should I do? This is a common question. We will examine it in more detail. The birth of a child is one of the most important events for any woman. However, the burden of childbirth and incredible changes in the female body do not always have a positive effect on the health of the woman who gave birth. The lower limbs, and knee joints in particular, experience a large load during the period of bearing the child. So many women have sore knees after giving birth.
This is a common complaint in elderly patients. But knees can also bother young pregnant women or those who have recently given birth.
In some cases, the appearing pain in the knee may be the norm, in others - the result of any violation.
Norm
So, knees hurt after giving birth. This may be a temporary peculiar phenomenon that occurs after delivery. This is due to the fact that during pregnancy, the woman’s body weight increases, has a negative effect on the legs, including cartilage and the surface of the knee joints.
Most often, this problem affects women who gave birth to more than one child at a time, had a large fetus, added more than 12 kg during pregnancy. After childbirth, a woman's weight decreases sharply, which is why it should take some time until the joints adapt to the new weight and level of load. Practice shows that if there are no other causes of pain, then within a month after delivery it will pass.
Why do knees hurt after childbirth during flexion?
Calcium deficiency
Calcium deficiency in the body is also a common cause of joint pain. A growing fetus requires a huge amount of calcium, which is taken from the mother's body.
After birth, a lactation period begins, and additional calcium is required for milk production. Along with pain in the knee, calcium deficiency can be accompanied by the occurrence of brittle nails, sleep disturbances, mood swings, spasms of the calf and other muscles.
Why knees hurt after giving birth is interesting to many.
Hormonal disbalance
During pregnancy, a large amount of a special hormone, relaxin, is produced in the female body. This hormone is required to soften the ligaments located in the pelvis. This allows the pelvic bones to disperse during childbirth easily, thereby facilitating the passage of the baby through the bone ring. However, relaxin similarly affects the ligaments of all joints. Therefore, knees hurt after childbirth.
Inflammatory process
Joint diseases of an inflammatory nature, such as periarthritis, synovitis, bursitis, arthritis, can cause pain in the knee after childbirth. Such inflammations can occur for a variety of reasons. The most common infectious arthritis that develops as a result of infection of the joint with bacteria. As a rule, all pregnant women are examined for infections that are sexually transmitted, so by the time of delivery, the woman should be treated for diseases present, such as chlamydia.
When knees hurt after childbirth, the reasons should be determined by the doctor.
Autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases are a special category of pathologies when the human body begins to perceive its own tissues as foreign and try to destroy them. The articular cartilage that lines the surface of the knee joint is one such tissue. As a result, rheumatoid arthritis develops.
Remission
An interesting fact should be noted - all diseases of an autoimmune nature during pregnancy go into remission. This is due to the fact that normally during pregnancy, the woman’s body is tolerant of other people's tissues, since the fetus for the expectant mother is half an alien object. After childbirth, immune defense is activated and the body resumes the fight with its own tissues. As a result, rheumatoid arthritis worsens.
What to do and where to go if your knees begin to hurt after childbirth?
Diagnosis of knee pain
If the young mother has pain in the knee for more than a month and is accompanied by the appearance of swelling, redness, fever, you should consult an arthrologist or orthopedist. You can start the examination with a visit to a therapist, who, if necessary, recommends a visit to a rheumatologist. In the case when there is a suspicion of chlamydial arthritis, an examination by a venereologist is indicated.
For pain in the knee, the following diagnostic measures are prescribed:
- Laboratory study of a blood sample.
- A biochemical laboratory blood test to determine the following indicators: rheumatoid factor, sialic acids, C-reactive protein, and other specific markers of the inflammation process.
- Special tests for chlamydia and other infections that can cause arthritis.
- X-ray examination of joints, MRI, CT.
- Ultrasound examination of joints. It is a relatively new, absolutely safe and very informative study that allows you to assess the condition of the articular surface and gap.
- Puncture. Using a long needle, a specialist takes a small amount of synovial fluid for examination.
If during the diagnosis there is a need for any other studies, a specialist can prescribe them to clarify the clinical picture of the disease.
Therapy for knee pain
Of course, a doctor with a certain qualification should prescribe and treat joint pathologies. It is important to inform the specialist that delivery has recently taken place and the patient is in the lactation period.
Therapy should be prescribed in accordance with the cause of the appearance of pain in the knee. Unfortunately, most drugs intended for the treatment of a variety of arthrosis and arthritis affecting the knee joint are contraindicated for use in the lactation period. That is why it is important to report breastfeeding to your doctor, while specifying how urgently you need to start treatment and, accordingly, stop breastfeeding.
Quite often, patients who have severely sore knees after childbirth are prescribed the following medications:
- Drugs that contain calcium. Such medicines are one of the few that are not only allowed, but also recommended for use by a nursing woman. Calcium deficiency can also be made up by replenishing your diet with foods rich in this element.
- Chondroprotectors. Glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate are substances that can nourish, protect and repair damaged cartilage of the joints. These drugs are not allowed in the lactation period. Before starting therapy, breastfeeding should be discontinued.
- Anti-inflammatory drugs. The most commonly used drugs are non-steroidal type, which include: "Indomethacin", "Ibuprofen", "Diclofenac." Other drugs in various pharmacological forms can be used: capsules, tablets intended for topical use of ointments, gels, creams. Preparations of local type of exposure can be used by women in the lactation period.
- Preparations based on herbal components intended for oral and external use - saberfish, comfrey, green tea extract, basil, nem, soy. These funds are allowed for use during breastfeeding, but only after agreement with the doctor.
- Complexes that are rich in boron, selenium, B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium. Similar complexes can be used during pregnancy, in the lactation period.
- Specialized medicines for the treatment of arthritis. These include a large list of drugs that are prescribed by a rheumatologist, for example, cytostatics and glucocorticosteroids. These drugs are able to provoke negative effects and are contraindicated in the lactation period. Use them only on the recommendation of a doctor.
It is important to remember that the use of any medications should be agreed with a specialist.
Aids
If the knees hurt after childbirth, the following can be used as auxiliary methods in therapy:
- Poultices, local compresses.
- Physiotherapeutic procedures. Physiotherapy can significantly alleviate the severity of pain and reduce inflammation, can be prescribed to lactating women. The most effective procedures are: thermal, darsonvalization, laser therapy, EHF, UHF, electrophoresis using Dexamethasone, Novocaine.
- Physiotherapy.
When treating pain in the joints of a knee in a nursing woman, an individual approach should be followed. In addition, a woman should coordinate with her doctor all her actions aimed at eliminating pain in the knee after childbirth. Only an integrated approach will prevent undesirable consequences, exacerbations and quickly get rid of the problem.
We looked at what to do when the knee joints hurt after giving birth.