Painful finger joints during pregnancy

During pregnancy various reasons can lead to joint problems. For example, water retention from the 4th month of pregnancy onwards can cause joint problems. Then, especially at night, there are complaints such as pain and numbness.

The pain is caused by water retention in a ligament structure on the wrist, through which nerves and tendons run. This causes a nerve, the median nerve, to become trapped and cause the pain. This clinical picture is called carpal tunnel syndrome.

In this case, the wrists should be protected by splints, for example. In most cases, the symptoms disappear again after pregnancy. During pregnancy there is also a change in hormones.

The hormone relaxin, which loosens ligaments and tissue, is released in greater quantities. This hormone is actually useful for making the hips more flexible for childbirth, but it also has an effect on other ligament structures, including the fingers. As a result, the joints are less resilient and hurt faster than usual. These complaints also usually disappear quickly after birth.

Painful finger joints after pregnancy

After the pregnancy it can come to an inflammatory rheumatic illness. The causes here are not yet completely clarified. On the one hand, it is assumed that the hormone changes during pregnancy and after birth are reasons for this.

During pregnancy there is a relative immunosuppression. This often leads to an improvement of already existing autoimmune diseases. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system is too active and attacks the body’s own tissue.

After birth, the immune system is restarted, so already existing or new autoimmune diseases such as rheumatism can reappear or develop. This leads to painful joints, whereby the finger joints can also be affected. Should this occur after delivery, a doctor should be consulted so that a suitable therapy can be started.

Rarely, joint pain can occur during the breastfeeding period. It is assumed that the hormone prolactin, which is responsible for milk production, is responsible for this. This is because prolactin stimulates not only milk production but also the immune cells. These can then cause joint inflammation.