Relieving back pain during pregnancy

Maternity and childbirth are among  the most amazing events in a woman’s life, but unfortunately the need for relieving back pain during pregnancy is bound to happen. When your unborn youngster begins the growing process and your body begins to change to suit that progress, low back pain may well occur. That may take away from the joy along with excitement that you need to experience. As a posture trainer I’d  like to talk about some ways of relieving back pain during pregnancy.

Relieving back pain during pregnancy

Causes for relieving back pain during pregnancy

Relaxin

When a woman becomes expectant, her body is going through many metabolic and hormonal changes. Relaxin is a hormone which will increase at the time of pregnancy, and helps the ligaments to become relaxed and soft so that the pelvis can spread and allow your baby to develop in the womb. While this is beneficial and much needed for obvious reasons, the release of relaxin can let bones shift inside the wrong area, thus causing impingement in the nerves and posture imbalance. This is one of the first places to look at for relieving back pain during pregnancy.

Intrauterine Limitation

The shifting of bones such as the pelvis that is brought about from relaxin release could also be one component that increases intrauterine limitation. This condition obstructs typical movement for the baby during it’s development and may prevent the baby from achieving  a head-down vertex position. This event is known as subluxation, which is a misalignment in the pelvic bones. There are ligaments that anchor the uterus with the skeletal frame of the body, and should the pelvic bone transfer excessively out of position via torsion, the ligaments can be over stretched and loose. This quite often causes the need for relieving back pain during pregnancy.

Poor Postural Alignment

You should look at how you’re sitting or standing while working or at home, slouching while sitting or standing are big causes of problems with posture, and can be exasperated while pregnant.  Slouching too much while pregnant will further cause subluxation as mentioned above. Relieving back pain during pregnancy can be as simple as sitting up correctly, and by doing some simple stretches and exercises during pregnancy will help for relieving back pain during pregnancy.

Weight Gain during pregnancy

During pregnancy the expectant mom will gain weight, from both her baby and the body fat she is also expected to put on. This added weight will cause the pelvis to move forward, much more than normal, and the hip flexors will become tight and pull on the lumbar spine causing lower back pain. Light stretching of the hip flexors connecting to the lower back will help with relieving back pain during pregnancy.

What can you do for relieving back pain during pregnancy?

• While you’re seated, by simply maintaining yourself upright without slouching can make a world of difference. Not only will this help prevent poor posture, it will help with relieving low back pain during pregnancy.
• Do some light stretches and exercises, there is an excellent video on this website you can do stretch hip flexor muscles that cause low back pain.
• Get your significant other to massage the areas of the lower back that are giving you pain, this in conjunction with stretching are very helpful.
• Relax! A new addition to the family can be nerve wracking, and this stress can make the pain in your lower back worse.

Relieving back pain during pregnancy sounds impossible, but it’s not. Just by simply following a few rules and listening to your doctors advice can go a long way. Just be happy, keep yourself moving with stretching and exercises, and get a back massage from your hubbie every now and again.