Feet During Pregnancy: How to Keep Them Healthy


Essential tips to take care of your feet during pregnancy and avoid foot pain, as well as discomfort in your knees, hips and lower back.

When you’re pregnant your body goes through many changes including weight gain and water retention. These problems affect your feet during pregnancy and can potentially lead to foot disorders that I treat in my practice and write about on MyBadFeet.com.

A common problem many expectant mothers face is alteration in the center of gravity due to weight gain. This puts extra stress on the knees and feet during pregnancy, and can also cause difficulty with sitting, standing, walking and lifting.

Other problems that can affect your feet during pregnancy include edema or swelling. Expectant mothers usually experience this in the latter part of their pregnancies. Enlargement of the uterus slows down blood circulation in the blood vessels of the pelvis and legs, which causes extra blood in the blood vessels to accumulate and result in edema. Swollen feet also experience a change in their natural color.

Overpronation is another side effect you may experience when with your feet during pregnancy. The stress from the extra body weight on your feet causes the arches to flatten out. This causes you to overpronate as you walk and your feet roll inwards as you walk.

Overpronation can leads to inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a band of fibrous tissues connecting the heel to the forefoot. If overpronation isn’t treated, it can lead to severe foot conditions like plantar fasciitis and metatarsalgia (pain and inflammation in the ball of your foot).        

 

Most problems with your feet during pregnancy lead to symptoms such as pain at the arch, heel or the ball of the foot. When you’re pregnant you’ll likely be coping with many other side effects such as lower back pain and nausea. Foot pain and discomfort shouldn’t be one of them; here’s how to prevent and treat them.

How to Relieve Problems with Your Feet During Pregnancy
• Lie down and raise your legs about six to 12 inches above your heart. Keep them at the elevated position for 15 to 20 minutes. This makes it easier for blood to flow back to your heart and lungs and prevents it from accumulating in your legs. 

• Sleeping on your side releases pressure on the vena cava, the largest vein that leads to the heart.. This helps the blood flow from your lower body to your upper body and alleviate problems with your feet during pregnancy.

• Drink plenty of water and other healthy beverages. It may seem contradictory, but staying well-hydrated alleviates and prevents swelling.

• Practice rotation exercises to improve blood circulation in the ankles. Sit on a raised platform and lift one leg off the floor. Rotate your ankle 10 times first to the right and then to the left. Repeat with your other leg.

• Massage your ankles with ice cubes for a period of 15 to 20 minutes. It helps reduce pain and swelling of the affected foot.   

I also recommend wearing properly fitting footwear to protect your feet during pregnancy from a variety of problems, including swollen arches. Over-the-counter orthotics are also helpful. Also, eat a lot of nutritional foods that will nourish your body, as well as your feet so you can avoid foot problems until your baby is born.

***These are only recommendations and suggestions, no medical advice given or implied.  Always follow the advice of your physician.


Dr. Maasi J. Smith / MyBadFeet.com Staff

www.mybadfeet.com