How to Prevent Back Pain During Pregnancy
back pain pregnancy

How to Prevent Back Pain During Pregnancy

Most women experience back pain at some point in pregnancy, unfortunately some have it worse than others. Here at OSR we provide chiropractic care in Kailua for many of our pregnant patients. This can be very uncomfortable and often cause more stress and sleepless nights to some women. Fortunately there are many things that you can do to help ease or even prevent back pain from occurring.

One of the most important ways to help with back pain is exercising. Doing pelvic floor exercises and core stabilization exercises can help reduce strain on your pelvis and low back. One of these important exercises is called bracing where you will be down on your hands and knees. While exhaling you will squeeze in your pelvic floor muscles (Kegel) and pull your belly button in and up towards your spine. Hold this squeeze for 10 seconds without holding your breath and then slowly relax your muscles.

Another type of exercise that can help with back pain is swimming. It often becomes difficult for women to move around as the get larger and heavier, swimming takes some of this weight off of the body’s joints and makes it easier to move freely. Many women feel that swimming often helps them to relax and some say it helps make labor easier. This is also a good way to get exercise without feeling as if you are over-pushing yourself during the last months of pregnancy.

Sleeping with a maternity pillow is also helpful, a proper pillow can help with comfort and posture during sleep. This will ensure that you are well rested and there is no extra strain on your back. Sleeping on your side is actually the best for your spine whether or not you are pregnant, and using a pillow between the knees will help relieve the back of pressure.  Posture while awake is also very important, try not to slump while sitting and sit on a cushion to help correct the posture. While standing your posture can be assisted by wearing a support belt. Some women find that support belts distribute the weight more evenly and take the stress off of the low back and pelvis.

These are all great ways to help prevent back pain during pregnancy but unfortunately sometimes women will still experience pain despite all of their efforts to avoid it. When and if this happens, having your partner or a massage therapist here at OSR give a nice back massage often helps. Come in and see us so that we are able to help you feel your best during pregnancy. Be sure to let them know if there is too much pressure or if you are uncomfortable. This will be a great way for you and your partner to bond and spend some time together. I know that this really helped with my back pain and gave me time to bond with my partner, good luck to you moms to be!

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References:

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a536387/back-pain-in-pregnancy#ixzz3LMWR5O5b

Murkoff, Heidi. Mazel, Sharon, What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Workman Publishing,2012.

Keywords: kailua chiropractic care, kailua massage therapy, kailua chiropractic, kailua massage

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