What causes arm pain after childbirth?

After giving birth, the mother's body is usually very weak and needs to recover through confinement. Some women do not pay attention to taking care of themselves after giving birth, and often wash clothes or do some heavy physical activities during the confinement period. In the long run, it is easy to cause arm soreness. If not treated in time, it will cause other complications in the arms. Arm soreness after childbirth needs special attention.

What causes arm pain after childbirth?

Because pregnant women have weaker constitutions, they are more sensitive to adverse external factors. In this case, if pregnant women do not rest well, often wash diapers and do housework, especially frequent contact with cold water, etc., it is very easy to induce hand pain and joint pain. Generally speaking, hand joint pain during pregnancy is mostly caused by hormones secreted during pregnancy, especially relaxin, which can cause fascia, tendons, ligaments and connective tissue to soften and relax, and affect the nerves. Symptoms such as soreness, pain, numbness and swelling in severe cases of limb joints are common. The mechanism of this disease is mainly due to deficiency of Qi and blood, malnutrition of meridians, or invasion of cold and dampness into the body, causing stagnation of Qi and blood.

In view of the various causes of arm soreness during the confinement period, you should avoid using cold water during the confinement period. In early spring, late autumn and winter, it is recommended that you wash your hands with warm water and raise your arms frequently to increase the return of veins and lymphatic fluid to relieve pain. Do not use medications during breastfeeding. If the pain is unbearable, take treatment measures or medication under the guidance of a doctor.

During the confinement period, be careful not to overwork, hold the baby less, and don’t do housework frequently. Getting more rest is the best way to avoid physical problems. Generally speaking, conditions like arm pain can be solved by resting more. If worst comes to worst, you can drink some Chinese medicine and regulate your body. As long as you don't overwork yourself, it will be easy to heal.

What to do if your arm hurts after childbirth

1. The first thing you should pay attention to is keeping warm. You must not touch cold water or other things that can make the body cold. Use a warm pack or a hot water bottle to warm your arms to promote blood circulation in the arms. You should also do more upper limb exercises and massage more to promote the discharge of cold air in the body, and the pain can be well relieved.

2. You can use traditional Chinese medicine therapies, including acupuncture and hot compresses with medicine. Acupuncture stimulates acupoints, such as the three yin and three yang acupoints on the hand, to effectively promote blood circulation. The method of hot compress with medicine is to put some Chinese medicine that can promote blood circulation, remove blood stasis, dispel wind and relieve pain into the medicine bag, then steam it, and then apply hot compress to the painful area.

3. Arm pain may also be caused by a weak body after giving birth, bleeding during delivery, and poor physical condition. What you should do at this time is to strengthen rest, eat more high-protein, high-calorie foods, high-iron vegetables, etc., to replenish physical energy. This phenomenon will disappear automatically after physical recovery.