Managing Back Pain In Pregnancy
Back pain tends to be one of the pregnancy symptoms that the majority of pregnant women suffer from. This occurs primarily due to the hormone called Relaxin, which your body produces when you are pregnant. This hormone softens your pelvis and ligaments to help your baby make its way out when it is time for you to give birth. Furthermore, pregnant women ‘waddle’ like a duck because of Relaxin. Learning how to manage your back pain throughout your pregnancy is one way of ensuring a pain-free pregnancy.
Why Your Back Hurts During Pregnancy
There are many reasons that many pregnant women suffer from back pain. Aside from your pelvis relaxing, your uterus is growing and expanding with the baby inside it causing you to have a change in the center of gravity, additional strain on your spine caused by relaxed uterine ligaments, and overstretched muscles in your abdomen which are not accustomed to the extra weight. All these things cause lower back pain. Two of the more common types of back pain that pregnant women experience include Lumbar pain and posterior pelvis pain. Lumbar pain can be felt in the lumbar vertebrae area of the lower back. Posterior pelvis pain is felt in the area behind the pelvis. A lot of women experience both types of lower back pain simultaneously.
Lumbar pain is a type of lower back pain that is quite similar to the pain that you experienced before you became pregnant. You feel it a little above your waist level in the area of your spine. Some lower back pain of this type radiates to your legs. This is why standing or sitting for long periods of time and lifting heavy objects is not advisable. Furthermore, lumbar pain is more aggravated at the end of each day.
On the other hand, posterior pelvic pain is felt in a more lower region than lumbar pain. You can feel this type of pain either in both or just one of your thighs as well as deep inside your buttocks. This can be triggered when you climb stairs, when you're walking, getting in or out of a low chair or doing any type of twisting or lifting.
What to Do About the Pain
Women going through their second pregnancy tend to experience aggravated or earlier symptoms. To alleviate back pain, avoid sitting or standing for long periods of time. In the early stages of your pregnancy or even before you plan to get pregnant, a good idea would be to get involved in a light aerobic exercise which you can maintain throughout your nine months of pregnancy. These activities can include walking, swimming or doing light aerobics.
Certain exercises such as pelvic tilts, being posture consciousness and taking the time to bend or lift objects properly can prevent or alleviate pelvic pain caused by pregnancy. The correct way to lift objects is using your knees and not bending at the waist. Remember that the best way to manage any type of discomfort always begins with prevention.
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