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Numb hands during pregnancy
Feeling numbness in the hands during pregnancy is one of the common symptoms that pregnant women complain of
What are the causes of numbness in the hands during pregnancy?
- Hypothyroidism
- Vitamin deficiency during pregnancy, especially vitamin B12
- Increased congestion in the tissues around the nerve that feeds the hand, which leads to pressure on it and a feeling of numbness
- The presence of neurological problems that affect the transmission of currents within the nerves (such as multiple sclerosis)
- The hand nerve was injured as a result of fractures, for example, or was exposed to pressure due to the presence of tumors
-The feeling of numbness may be due to a difficult psychological state that the mother is going through and which appears in the form of physical symptoms
- The nerve roots are exposed to pressure due to the presence of a disc between the neck vertebrae
- Problems in the hand joints
When is numbness in the hand evidence of a serious health problem?
- If it is accompanied by a loss of the ability to move muscles
- If it is accompanied by muscle atrophy
- If accompanied by loss of sensation
- If it is accompanied by severe pain in the hand
What is the most common cause of numbness in the hands during pregnancy?
- Increased congestion in the tissues around the nerve that feeds the hand, which leads to pressure on it and a feeling of numbness
How to deal with complaints of numbness in the hands during pregnancy?
- First, take a medical history
- Clinical examination and ensuring that there is no loss of motor ability in the hand or loss of sensation
- Do some blood tests: thyroid, vitamin B12
- We may resort to making an MRI of the neck if there is a suspicion of a disc in the neck
- Nerve conduction study if a neurological disease is suspected
- Immune antibody tests in the event of suspected presence of an immune disease affecting the nerves/joints
Treatment is directed to the cause
How is numbness in the hands treated due to increased congestion in the tissues around the nerve that supplies the hand, which leads to pressure on it?
- First, by reassuring the mother that this is very common during pregnancy and is due to an increase of fluid in the tissues
- Encouraging her to use hand braces to make her feel comfortable
- Ensure that the motor/sensory function of the hand is not affected
- Reassure the mother that this numbness disappears completely after birth
- In severe cases (when the motor/sensory function of the nerve is affected), we may make a surgical incision in the tissue surrounding the nerve to reduce pressure on the nerve.
