Is it normal to have numbness in hands during pregnancy

Carpal tunnel syndrome can range from mild discomfort, sporadically painful, or severe. Symptoms of carpal tunnel are tingling and numbness in the hands, which usually resolve on their own soon after birth.

Splinting and resting the wrist, physiotherapy or anti-inflammatory medication may be helpful for some women experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome. If you are experiencing tingling and numbness in your hands make sure you let your maternity care provider know. Skin tags are a type of skin lesion that not uncommon and are non-cancerous. They are hormonally related and can increase in number during pregnancy.

Skin tags are caused by the hyperactive growth of your skin and is most likely brought on by hormonal changes and increased blood flow. They usually appear in areas that are often rubbed or hot, moist areas such as you neck, torso or breast folds. Skin tags are not painful and there is nothing you can do to prevent them. Your GP or dermatologist can easily remove them by scalpel, or by freezing or burning them off. Restless leg syndrome is exactly what it sounds like: you become restless and it often can prevent women from sleeping during pregnancy.

It is a condition of the nervous system which presents as an urge to move your legs due to a burning, tingling or itching feeling.

For some people, the numbness extends to the arms. The pain can also be severe enough to wake them during the night, and their fingers may appear swollen.

In addition, carpal tunnel syndrome can make it difficult to grip objects and to perform tasks requiring particular dexterity. Scientific review : Dr. Please note: Hyperlinks to other websites are not updated regularly, and some may have changed since publication. Pain and numbness in the hands occurs mostly in the third trimester and mainly at night. In this fact sheet Probable causes Treatment Prevention Things to keep in mind About one-third of women experience pain and numbness in their hands during pregnancy, especially at night and first thing in the morning.

Probable causes Pain and numbness in the hands during pregnancy is caused by carpal tunnel syndrome. Treatment Avoid non-essential manual tasks and rest your hands and wrists. To reduce swelling, prop up your hand and forearm with a towel or pillow. Avoid positions where the wrist is bent or fully extended.

Wear a splint to help keep your wrist straight, especially at night. Most pregnant women who experience carpal tunnel syndrome feel the pain and numbness in the last trimester of pregnancy, although symptoms can crop up as early as the first trimester.

The carpal tunnel houses nerves and ligaments in your wrist. This includes the median nerve, which runs between the palm of your hand and your forearm and creates sensations in all of your fingers except your pinky.

Carpal tunnel syndrome happens when the median nerve gets compressed near your wrist. The compression can be linked to any number of factors, including trauma or injury to the wrist or repetitive motions. Typically, carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms are more acute at night. That's because the fluids that accumulate in the lower part of your body during the day are redistributed to your extremities when you lie down, putting more pressure on your nerves and ligaments.

If you've been working at a computer all day long, it could make the tingly numbness more pronounced when the sun goes down. One common sign of preeclampsia , a pregnancy complication linked to high blood pressure, is sudden severe swelling of the hands. The more you can do now to mitigate the effects of carpal tunnel syndrome, the more likely you will feel symptom-free after delivery. Here are some remedies:. Nearly all women experience swelling that may cause carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms in the last trimester of pregnancy.

Try to minimize time spent doing intensive manual tasks such as typing, sewing or knitting, and take breaks to move around and stretch. No Facebooking or Instagramming for hours on end, either! What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations.