21 Nov Pregnancy and Back Pain
The Good news is your having a baby… the bad news is it’s painful
Unfortunately for many women, even before they go into labour they will probably spend months in some kind of discomfort often around the lower back, hips and pelvis area. Whilst this can be exhausting the good thing to know is that this a very common experience.
What is happening
To make it “easier” for you to deliver your baby, your body produces a hormone called Relaxin which does exactly that to your ligaments (the tissue that connects your joints together); especially those around your pelvis. Although this is a good thing it does come with a catch; now that your joints are loose they may become unstable. If your joints are unstable they are put through more stress, as a result your muscles will overwork trying to make up for stability lost meaning they will fatigue quicker and tighten.
Another factor to consider is that carrying a growing baby inside of you means you are carrying more weight, thus causing further stress and wear to the joints of spine. This weight may also press on nerves and blood vessels leading to pins and needles or light numbness down the legs.
Where you might feel pain
- Mid to Lower back
- Hips
- Around the Pelvis
- Base of spine and buttock region
- Down the legs you may get ‘pins & needles’ (tingling feeling)
What you can do
Your body will be trying to adapt to these changes so as time goes by you may notice that the pain lessens
If the pain is not letting up then you may want try safe exercises such as swimming, light walking or gentle stretching of lower back and hips.
Use hydrotherapy techniques (see our earlier blogs)
Antenatal classes provide a lot of advice and are something you can speak to your midwife about
What osteopathy can do
Osteopaths help to reduce the pain by working directly on affected joints by mobilising them to release any restrictions found and improve mobility
They will reduce any tension in muscles that are causing discomfort with a range of soft tissue techniques.
They can also provide you with specific safe exercises for the areas causing discomfort.
Word of caution
Although some pain and discomfort is expected during the course of pregnancy there may be times where it will be best to contact your Doctor to rule out anything underlying, instances include:
- Severe unrelenting pain
- Problems with controlling urinary and bowel function
- Numbness around groin and gluteal areas
- Back Pain with fever and/or spotting
If you would like to find out more about whether osteopathy treatment would benefit you during pregnancy feel free to get in touch with us or book an appointment so we can help you.
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