Millions of women experience back pain during pregnancy but most of them don’t know how to go about preventing it. In today’s video I’m going to talk to you about the most common causes of back pain. I’ll talk to you about how to prevent it and share some simple tips that will help your pregnancy be more comfortable.
Hi there I’m Dr Mario from Vitality Semaphore in South Australia and for over a quarter of a century we’ve helped lots of new moms pregnant mums improve their life and quality of life naturally through Chiropractic Care. In this video I’m going to talk to you about the most common complaints that women have during pregnancy and that is back pain. So what is it that causes one of the most common ones that we see? Well, there are lots of causes of back pain and in this video I want to talk to you about the most common ones that we see in our office. The first is weight gain. The healthy normal additional weight that comes along with being pregnant puts additional strain on the spinal joints and the pelvis and quite simply, this increases the incidence of back pain. Women while pregnant the second is changes in posture as your belly grows and as the baby grows the center gravity tends to shift forward and this means an additional strain particularly on the lower part of the back and the pelvis. Now to compensate with the ever changing postures of pregnancy, women often find themselves sitting or standing and lying in unusual positions and these posture changes also increase the likelihood and rate of lower back pain and discomfort in women when they’re pregnant.
The third is hormonal changes, now during pregnancy your body produces a hormone called relaxin. This hormone relaxes the ligaments in your pelvis and the lower part of your back and it’s there to help with the delivery. But it also loosens other ligaments throughout the body too and that in some cases can cause instability and pain associated with pregnancy. So these are the three most common causes of lower back pain during pregnancy that we see in our practice.
Now despite the fact that back pain during pregnancy is incredibly common, there are some things that you can actually do to prevent it, minimize it, or at least help manage it. Here’s six of my favorite tips, the first is make sure you’re wearing comfortable and supportive shoes. Avoid high heels, although they look great they do further exacerbate these posture changes that we talked about earlier and increase the likelihood of lower back and pelvic related pain.
The second is to try not to stand for long periods of time and if you do have to stand if you’ve got a big day make sure that at least 30 minutes you’re taking the opportunity to sit down or lie down.
The third is to sleep on your side with a pillow between your knees, or even invest of one of those body pillows. This is to help support the lower part of the back, it prevents twisting the pilis and has been life changing for many of the pregnant women that we’ve looked after in the practice.
Now for the fourth tip, when you’re lifting be sure to lift with your legs and not your back, avoid twisting when you’re lifting your toes and your nose should be pointing in the same direction. That means turn your feet at the same time you turn your body. I know this lifting thing can be a challenge, particularly for those of you that already have toddlers, and I know you’re bending over like 200 times a day – it’s just to be mindful in particular when you’re lifting, just be mindful about it. Think about your body position, try to have your weight over your legs and slow it down, don’t rush things.
Now for the fifth tip try some pelvic tilting or some hamstring stretches several times throughout the day. This will help to keep your back muscles loose and it will decrease the chance of that tightening or pain or cramping happening that often comes along with changing posture.
The sixth and the final one is to make sure that you stay active and exercise during pregnancy is absolutely safe. Make sure you check with your health provider that simple exercises like walking or going for a swim, they can be two great things that you can be doing to minimize and manage any pain or discomfort that you have.
So although pregnancy related back pain is incredibly common there are things that you can do to prevent and manage any pain that you might have. Now, if you’re experiencing pregnancy related back pain please don’t suffer in silence. If you have any questions, reach out, we’ve been helping people for over a quarter of a century, we have chiropractors that absolutely love looking after moms and bubs and have young kids themselves and done extra specialized courses and training in that area. You can reach us on 8 2421 1581. I look forward to seeing you on the next video