The term “lightning crotch” is generally applied to the sensation of painful pelvic or vaginal twinges — much like a bolt of lightning to your vagina—during pregnancy. Uncomfortable? Absolutely. A sure sign you’re going into labor? Not so much. Turns out there’s plenty of confusion around these blistering bolts which is all the more reason to familiarize yourself with these things to know about lightning crotch.
What Is Lightning Crotch?
What’s the Latin term for lightning crotch? There isn’t one, because it is not a medical term. Rather, it’s a descriptor for a pain commonly felt by women while pregnant. A short, sharp burst of ouch that zaps the vaginal area while expecting.
Essentially, “[Lightning crotch] is used to describe round ligament pain,” says Dr. Danielle Jones, better known as Mama Doctor Jones to her YouTube followers, an American obstetrician-gynecologist at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in College Station, Texas. “Basically the uterus has two ligaments that attach to the sides of it and which hold it to the side walls of the uterus. And those have fibers which traveled down towards the vulva. And as the uterus grows, it can put a little tension on those ligaments. And so sometimes around 12 to 22 weeks, people will start noticing the real intense, sharp pain. It's more common on the right than the left, but it can happen on either side.”
Lightning Crotch is Nerve Pain
Lightning crotch may feel like an unholy attack from the Gods, but it’s actually nerve pain, analogues to sciatica, pain that travels along the sciatic nerve, from the hips, butt, and down either leg, explains Mary Lou Kopas, chief of midwifery and a professor at the University of Washington Medical Center.
During pregnancy, the uterus grows, causing low grade edema (a puffiness caused by excess fluid trapped in the body's tissues) throughout the body, she explains. “This puts more pressure on nerves and when the nerves don’t get enough oxygen, it causes pain. Sometimes this pressure from the uterus growing pushes down on the pelvis and it hits some nerve and it just goes ‘zing!’”.
Is Lightning Crotch a Sign of Labor?
As much as that zing hurts, it’s not necessarily a cause for alarm. Lightning crotch pains and labor pains are, Dr. Jones and Kopas say, very different although some people may confuse the two.
“Labor pains are periodic cramping,” says Kopas. They can be subtle and they come in waves. Lightning crotch, on the other hand, will unexpectedly and infrequently arrive in short, sharp bursts as early as your first trimester. And even if you experience it near your due date (during week 37, 38 of pregnancy or later), it can simply just be nerve pain, and not necessarily a sign of impending labor. doesn’t necessarily mean you’re about to go into labor. If you are experiencing lightning crotch frequently or if paired with other symptoms, it’s wise to contact your medical provider.
“If someone's having persistent pain, pain with intercourse, or it comes and goes regularly like contractions or anything that's severe, then they at least need to call or come in and let us check it out to make sure it's OK,” says Dr. Jones.
Lightning Crotch and Bloody Discharge
If you’re still having trouble making up your mind about whether you just felt labor pain or lightning crotch, bloody discharge is a (literal) red flag.
“With a lightning situation, you're not going to have a bloody discharge or anything like that,” explains Kopas. If the pain is accompanied by watery or bloody discharge, something else, possibly labor, might be happening and in that case, you should reach out to your OB/GYN for further guidance.
How to Prevent Lightning Crotch
Never want to experience lightning crotch again or don’t want to go through it in the first place? Well, there’s no promise it won’t happen, but Kopas says there are things you can do to prevent or mitigate a painful zap.
“I recommend people stay active, exercise and do good posture exercises like stretching and yoga,” advises Kopas. Staying limber and moving the body can help relieve edema which can result in pinched nerves. Even just moving your legs up and down or getting up from the computer every hour can make a big impact Kopas says.
And when all else fails, Kopas tells her patients to consider a pregnancy support belt. Available in all a variety of styles, they help by gently cradling your bump to alleviate round ligament pain as well as lower back pain. Kopas recommends them to many of the moms she sees but notes that they can be especially helpful for very active mothers including moms who want to continue to run while pregnant.
So, before the lightning strikes, consider investing in a support belt and some yoga stretches, then pray the storm and its bolts of pain miss you entirely.
Sources:
Dr. Danielle Jones, OB-GYN and expert behind Doctor Mama Jones YouTube channel science communicator, youtube.com/channel/UCrPhcbDwqWRc-3tteE2BS6g
Mary Lou Kopas, CNM, ARNP, chief of midwifery at the University of Washington Medical Center
0 comments:
Post a Comment