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Foot Pain During Pregnancy
Why Pregnancy Can Sometimes Be a Pain in the Foot
By Teri Brown
Women seem to get selective amnesia after holding their newborn baby in their arms. They forget the pain of childbirth, the health concerns and the nervous anticipation of pregnancy. But the one thing they do not forget is the discomfort of their poor pregnant feet!
Pamela Kock, mother of two from Springboro, Ohio, remembers all too well her chronic foot pain. "My feet ached quite a bit during both of my pregnancies; it felt as though I'd been standing all day, right as soon as I got out of bed," says Kock. "The doctor just stated the obvious, that it would help to sit down with my feet propped up as much as possible. It didn't help much, basically because I am not very good at sitting still for long!"
Dr. John Viscovich, a podiatrist in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., says there are many causes for foot swelling during pregnancy. "Hormonal imbalances, venous congestion, decrease in activity, fluid retention and laxity are all reasons for swelling," he says.
- Hormonal imbalances create a disparity in the osmotic pressures that will cause fluid to rest outside the cells.
- Venous congestion can be due to weight gain that does not allow the veins in the legs to function properly, allowing water to escape out into the free space between the cells.
- Decrease in activity causes the leg pump that brings fluid back to the heart not to function as well.
- Fluid retention is really related to hormonal imbalances.
- Laxity is due to the hormones that allow the female body to stretch (the belly getting bigger), which also work on the collagen that maintains the firmness in the legs, allowing the skin in the legs to stretch with fluid.
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