Physiotherapy can relieve your pregnancy back pain!
A visit to one of our physiotherapists during your Pregnancy can offer relief from general back pain or low-back pain.
Whether yours is a dull pain or chronic muscle tension, back pain during pregnancy is a serious concern. It can lead to difficulties with balance and later it may cause discomfort while breastfeeding. If you are suffering from back pain during your pregnancy, consult one of our physiotherapists for help.
Pregnancy Back Pain
Though the severity of pain varies from woman to woman, 80% of pregnant women suffer from low-back pain and chronic muscle tension during pregnancy. While some women experience a constant dull pain, others can encounter devastating discomfort that can impede on their daily lives and the joy of being pregnant. Usually this pain starts disappearing three months after child-birth, but care, like that provided by one of our physiotherapists, you can avoid it in future pregnancies.
Causative Factors
The expansion of the uterus and hormonal changes are two main factors which contribute to low-back pain during pregnancy. As the uterus expands, the body’s center of balance shifts and causes the abdominal muscles to weaken. The increase in abdominal size then leads to changes in posture which can strain the back and cause severe discomfort.
After labor, low-back pain and chronic muscle tension can persist and this can cause difficulties in the mother’s care of her new child. It can also cause discomfort while breastfeeding.
Types of Pregnancy Back Pain
According to experts, there are generally two types of low-back pain during pregnancy: lumbar pain and posterior pelvic pain. Both types can create great discomfort and cause women to have difficulty maintaining balance during pregnancy.
In pregnant women, occurrence of pelvic pain is more common than lumbar pain. The location of pelvic pain is lower than lumber pain, and patients may feel this pain in the inner buttocks, on one or both the sides. Posterior pelvic pain may also be felt in the back of the thighs.
Activities that can aggravate posterior pelvic pain include frequent turning in the bed, walking, climbing stairs, deep bending, and strained seating postures. If you have difficulty with any of these activities, visiting one of our physiotherapists in our Vancouver clinic may help.
Treatment
Pregnant women who suffer from persistent low-back strain are often referred to physiotherapy. The physiotherapy treatment will help strengthen back and oblique muscles, thereby improving posture. Stretching and improving muscle strength will also provide relief from the pain.
During the treatment your physiotherapist will first identify the specific problem area and then develop a customized exercise routine to help you recover and attain relief from the problematic discomfort.
Sessions with one of our physiotherapists can also help women prepare for a pregnancy free from back pain by following a regular stretching and strengthening plan. This preventative measure is particularly recommended for women who are very small in stature or those who have had similar problems in past pregnancies.