How To Relieve Back Pain While Pregnant

These Are The 5 Tips For Back Pain Relief During Pregnancy

Yashasvi Shaktawat |

Back pain during pregnancy is a completely normal phenomenon as your body goes through many hormonal changes. Youre gaining weight and the centre of your gravity changes. As the hormones are relaxing the ligaments in the joints of your pelvis, you are bound to have physical pain in your back.

This common form of back pain during pregnancy is also known as pelvic girdle pain , which spans from the middle lower back area and all the way to your hips and pubic bone.

However, there are some natural and easy ways to recover from back pain and ease out the process.

1. Exercise

Stretching and exercising can help reduce pain. The muscles need to be in movement, you can also try squats and lunges to help strengthen the posture.

2. Practice deep breathing

During pregnancy, the organs get a bit concise because of the excess weight gain. This can cause rib cage pain and back pain. Deep breathing can help relax those muscles and ease out your organs.

3. Get a massage

Get a regular massage to help reduce the pain and feel easy. It is always good to treat yourself to a good massage. The shift in the pelvis causes women to tuck their tailbone under which further intensifies the muscles. Massage therapy can help to reduce this pain.

4. Get yourself a maternity belt

This helps to reduce the pelvic pain in your lower back and hips. The maternity belt helps in supporting the ligaments, muscles and should be worn often to avoid back pain.

5. Practice good posture

What Causes Back Painsharp Sudden Back Pain During Pregnancy

Back pain causes are as diverse as they are common. The most common are muscular, skeletal, and disc problems. Despite their seemingly simple nature, these conditions can be very painful. Some of the most common cause of back pain is improper posture. You should always strive to sit with your shoulders over your hips. This helps to keep your spine in the proper alignment. When you deviate from this position, you put extra pressure on your back muscles, which may lead to muscle spasms and even a spinal stenosis.

Some of the most common back pain causes are as described above: a dull ache in the back that can radiate to the buttocks or legs. Although not all cases of back pain are as serious, there are a variety of symptoms that can be caused by back issues. A doctor can determine the exact cause of your back pain by asking about your symptoms and performing a physical exam. Sometimes an x-ray will be taken to check whether your bones are aligned properly and to rule out any broken bones. Unfortunately, x-rays cant detect if your disks and nerves have been damaged.

Frequently Asked Questionsexpand All

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When To Contact Your Doctor

Back pain is typically a normal part of pregnancy. But in some cases, it can be a sign of serious problems, like preterm labor or a urinary tract infection.

Back pain thats accompanied by fever, burning during urination, or vaginal bleeding shouldnt be ignored. If you experience these symptoms, contact your doctor right away.

How To Relieve Lower Back Pain During Pregnancy

Before we dive into helping lower back pain during pregnancy, let me introduce myself. Hi, Im Hannah! I work in the marketing department at Chirp and YES, I am pregnant! So, you could say that Im a reliable candidate to write this blog .

Heres a little background: Im currently 25 weeks prego and I hear this phrase almost every single day, You dont even look pregnant! And its true. Im hardly popping out, even though Im over halfway to the finish line. Its because my sweet baby boy loves to hang out close to my spine and you can only imagine the lower back pain during pregnancy I am experiencing! Let me share my personal tips and tricks on how to help it:

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Causes Of Back Pain In Pregnant Women

Pregnancy back pain typically happens where the pelvis meets your spine, at the sacroiliac joint.

There are many possible reasons why it happens. Here are some of the more likely causes:

• Weight gain.During a healthy pregnancy, women typically gain between 25 and 35 pounds. The spine has to support that weight. That can cause lower back pain. The weight of the growingbabyand uterus also puts pressure on the blood vessels and nerves in the pelvis and back.
• Posture changes.Pregnancy shifts your center of gravity. As a result, you may gradually — even without noticing — begin to adjust your posture and the way you move. This may result in back pain or strain.
• Hormone changes.During pregnancy, your body makes a hormone called relaxin that allows ligaments in the pelvic area to relax and the joints to become looser in preparation for the birth process. The same hormone can cause ligaments that support the spine to loosen, leading to instability and pain.
• Muscle separation.As the uterus expands, two parallel sheets of muscles , which run from the rib cage to the pubic bone, may separate along the center seam. This separation may worsen back pain.
• Stress. Emotional stress can cause muscle tension in the back, which may be felt as back pain or back spasms. You may find that you experience an increase in back pain during stressful periods of your pregnancy.

Treatments For Back Pain In Pregnancy

More good news: Unless you had chronic backaches before you got pregnant, your pain will likely ease gradually before you give birth.

Meanwhile, there are many things you can do to treat low back pain or make it rarer and milder:

Continued

More tips:

• If you need to pick something up from the ground, use your legs to squat rather than bend over.
• Don’t wear high-heeled shoes. Choose low-heeled shoes with good arch support. Remember, as hormones loosen joints, you may need to buy a larger shoe size.
• Don’t sleep on your back.
• Wear support hose.

If your back pain persists, you may want to consult your doctor to see what else you might try. Be sure to consult your doctor before taking pain medications. Acetaminophen is safe for most women to take during pregnancy. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen are not advised. In some cases, your doctor may recommend other pain medicines or muscle relaxants that are safe during pregnancy.

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Here Bodytonic Clinic Share Their Top 13 Ways That Women Can Alleviate The Symptoms Of Pregnancy

It is very common for pregnant women to experience back pain, especially during the early trimesters of their pregnancy. In fact, 50% of women will experience back pain during pregnancy, in some capacity. Unfortunately, back pain can be very irritating and uncomfortable to deal with, especially whilst managing your other pregnancy symptoms too. To help you through this time, Bodytonic Clinic has brought you their top tips for dealing with back pain through your pregnancy.

Tip #4 The Right Kind Of Exercise

I know it may sound a little off to say that exercise can help your lower back pain during pregnancy, but it really does. Spine Health says it best, Although it may seem enticing to rest when experiencing pain and not undertake an exercise routine, gentle stretching and movement will often decrease muscle spasm and restore improved spinal function, resulting in decreased pain. They also suggest doing any cardiovascular exercise, like biking, walking and swimming. Days that I feel absolutely exhausted I try to at least go on a 10 minute walk. Without fail my lower back pain during pregnancy begins to feel better.

This is one of the most exciting times in your life! Can you believe that you have a living person growing inside of you?? I find it hard to fathom most of the time. Take care of yourself and your baby by helping your lower back pain during pregnancy! If you follow my special tips and tricks above, I promise your back will start feeling better! Take it from someone who knows 🙂

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Sit And Stand Up Straight

The myriad changes of pregnancy can wreak havoc on your posture, worsening back pain, says Dr. Hameed. She suggests elongating the spine and trying to stack your pelvis, chest, neck, and head on top of one another.

Keep your shoulders back and down, instructs Dr. Hameed. You may need to tuck in a little bit at the pelvis to reduce lordosis, the inward curving of the spine . Limiting your heel height to 1 to 2 inches may be helpful.

How Your Muscles Can Cause Back Pain

It can be hard to imagine that muscle tightness causes your sacroiliac pain orlower back pain during pregnancy. The fact is: From walking to sitting to running, the iliopsoas muscles are involved. They are engaged during almost every bodily movement that you make.

When the iliopsoas muscles are too tight, your joints and bones are pulled out of alignment. This in turn leads to more issues and pain over time.

Theiliopsoas muscle is made up of two muscles: the psoas and the iliacus. The psoas originates at the vertebrae of your lower spine, and the iliacus originates on the inside of your pelvic bowl. The muscles both cross the hip joint and attach to the top of your femur . Both the spine and the pelvis are responsible for lower back and sacroiliac joint alignment.

This relationship of the iliopsoas to these integral bone structures and joints means that when there is trauma or stress around the pelvis, the iliopsoas muscles step in to protect it. Their primary job is to stabilize, so if there is an irritant threatening to cause your hip region instability, they tighten to reinforce balance.

However, this also happens in reverse. When your hip flexor muscles start too tight, they can cause trauma or stress in that area. It is a domino effect: If one aspect is out of whack, it creates issues elsewhere. Thats why you experience lower back pain during pregnancy in addition to other bodily traumas.

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How To Treat Or Ease Back Pain During Pregnancy

Other Causes Of Back Pain There Might Be Other Causes Of Your Increasing Back Pain Like:

• Stress

  Stress can lead to back pain, irrespective of whether you are pregnant or not. Excessive worrying about your baby, pregnancy, work, or family can lead to stress, which causes tightening and weakening of muscles.

• Weight gain

  Due to weight gain during pregnancy, your back may find it hard to support the growing weight, therefore, causing strain on the muscles. This leads to pain in the lower back.

• The posture of the body

  As your belly grows bigger, your posture will change due to the shift in the centre of gravity. This will lead to changes in posture while you are sitting, walking, or sleeping, and eventually, trigger back pain.

• Muscle separation

  As the uterus expands, two parallel sheets of muscles , which run from the rib cage to the pubic bone, may separate along the centre seam. This separation may worsen back pain.

  Gaining some weight during pregnancy is normal, but it may contribute to back pain. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

• Round ligament pain is common and normal during pregnancy

As the uterus and surrounding ligaments stretch to make room for the baby, it can cause short, painful spasms. Rest and other home remedies may help. But do call your healthcare provider, if the pain wont go away.

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Chiropractic Care Treatment And Acupuncture

Lower back pain and even knee pain can also be treated by using complementary therapies. These include acupuncture and chiropractic treatment. Before going to have these complementary therapies, tell your doctor that you are expecting a baby.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is considered beneficial in pregnancy-related back pain. The acupuncturist will insert needles at different pressure points of your body to remove blockages and relieve pain. Lower back pain points are present in your hands, foot, lower back, hip, and back of the knees.

When these points are stimulated, pain-relieving chemicals get released from the spinal cord that helps relieve pain. The stimulation of nerves and other tissues helps release endorphins that can change the way your body treats pain.

Chiropractic Treatment

Many pregnant women go for chiropractic treatment where the Chiropractors use spinal manipulation and a range of other techniques to treat lower back pain. The Chiropractors focus on the proper alignment of your musculoskeletal system. The purpose of this treatment is to provide relief from nerve compression and muscle tightness.

Chiropractic treatment helps your body deal with back pain symptoms in a better way by developing spinal health and nervous system function and increasing the mobility of your joints.

Perform Progressive Muscle Relaxation

With the amount of stress that can accompany pregnancy, its no wonder mind-body techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation have been shown in studies to be effective for reducing low back pain during pregnancy. Start by laying in a comfortable position with relaxing music playing in the background. Tense the muscles in your feet for a few seconds and then release, simultaneously relaxing all other muscle groups in your body. Continue in the same manner for about 15 to 20 minutes in the calf, thigh, gluteal muscles, abdomen, chest, hands, forearms, shoulders, neck, face, and finally the forehead.

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Prepare A Complete Medical History

Let your provider know your history of any traumatic back or pelvic injuries, herniated discs, chronic back pain, scoliosis or surgical treatments . This information is not only important for managing low back pain during pregnancy.

It is also very important for your anesthesiologist, should you need spinal anesthesia or an epidural. (This has nothing to do with whether you want pain control for labor or not.

This is in the event that you need anesthesia you want your Anesthesiologist to be prepared.)

Avoiding Backache In Pregnancy

There are several things you can do to help prevent backache from happening, and to help you cope with an aching back if it does occur.

It is important to avoid lifting heavy objects. When lifting or picking up something from the floor, be sure to bend your knees and keep your back straight.

These tips listed here can also help you to protect your back try to remember them every day:

• move your feet when turning around to avoid twisting your spine
• wear flat shoes as these allow your weight to be evenly distributed
• work at a surface high enough to prevent you stooping
• try to balance the weight between two bags when carrying shopping
• sit with your back straight and well supported
• avoid standing or sitting for long periods
• make sure you get enough rest, particularly later in pregnancy
• try to have good posture

A firm mattress can also help to prevent and relieve backache. If your mattress is too soft, put a piece of hardboard under it to make it firmer.

Some other activities that may help ease your back pain include:

• aqua aerobics
• acupuncture

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Treat Yourself To A Massage

A massage therapist can offer relief for back pain, though they might not be focused on your back itself. One of the things that we joke about here is that we spend 50 to 75 percent of our time rubbing moms bums, says Mickeler. The glutes often contribute to back pain because the shift in the pelvis causes women to tuck their tailbones under, which tightens those muscles. A massage therapist will be able to loosen them up, which will offer you some relief. Rebong says moms-to-be can also use a foam roller at home to loosen up their glutes, hamstrings and calves so those muscles dont pull on the lower back.