When there are involuntary contractions of the muscle around anywhere in the body, such a situation can be referred to as muscle cramps. They are painful and often causes the muscle to stiff, underlying causes of muscle cramp is often unknown, but a variety of factors can contribute to muscle cramp
This can occur anywhere in the body, but the most common places where it occurs in the body are the legs and feet.
It is also common in people with digestive problems or females with experience of menstrual problems to experience abdominal cramping.
Apart from all these types of cramps that may occur as a result of a particular underlying condition, early signs of abdominal cramps often occur at the early stage of pregnancy.
Early Pregnancy Symptoms That Include Cramps
It is a medical norm, in fact, women are expected to cramp during pregnancy, it is a sign of normalcy for cramping to occur during pregnancy.
It indicates that the baby is growing and abdominal cramping will occur as a result of the uterus expansion to accommodate the fetus that is increasing in size.
The big question is, what type of cramp indicates pregnancy?
There are different stages where cramping can be felt in the abdominal region, it may occur during implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus, cramping can occur in the abdominal region during menstrual periods, and it can occur more frequently during the first trimester of the pregnancy.
All these are normal because the uterus itself is a muscular organ that is bound to experience involuntary contractions, either to increase during pregnancy to accommodate the fetus or contractions to shed off uterine layers during menstrual periods.
The signs of early pregnancy cramp sensation can differ from one person to another, but there is a sharp difference between early pregnancy cramp and menstrual cramp which in some people can easily be mistaken for the other.
Menstrual cramps are mostly felt on one side of the lower abdominal region as one ovary releases the unfertilized egg, meanwhile, early pregnancy cramps are felt across the entire lower abdomen, pelvic area, or lower back.
Other types of early pregnancy cramps sensation may include tingling, prickling, or pulling sensations, these types of sensations are often irregular, they may come and disappear and sometimes last for a day or two before cessation.
In addition to cramps, the menstrual period and early pregnancy can have similar Symptoms due to changes in hormone levels, these Symptoms may include:
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Bleeding due to implantation
- Mood swings
- Breast tenderness
- Headache
Although it may be difficult to distinguish between an upcoming menstrual cycle and pregnancy, missing a period is the most common symptom during early pregnancy.
How To Identify Implantation Cramp?
It is common to have severe cramping aches at some point of implantation, but anyone who is experiencing painful and severe cramps should try and seek medical care
Implantation has a tendency to take place six to twelve days after ovulation whilst being pregnant occurs. During this period, some mild bleeding may accompany implantation cramp, this is referred to as implantation bleeding and is lighter than normal menstrual periods.
These are possible ways to differentiate between early pregnancy cramps, either during implantation, the first trimester of pregnancy, or menstrual periods cramps
The intensity, severity, and duration of the cramps are very important.
When Symptoms of various types of cramps are found to excessively deviate from the outlined medical norms, individuals are encouraged to seek medical attention for proper diagnosis and treatment.
It is advisable for anyone who is already aware of the pregnancy status and is experiencing heavy bleeding at the early stage of pregnancy to seek medical care, as this symptom may be pointing towards the pregnancy.