SHARES
We spoke to Dr Benjamin of MBA Chiropractic Centre on the topic – Back pain before and after pregnancy. Dr Ben’s scope of work includes treating back pain, shoulder related pain and sports-related injuries. Here’s what he had to say for queries about back pain from mummies who had delivered, who are pregnant etc.
Back aches, shoulder aches are pretty common during pregnancy due to the changes the body undergoes. The load being borne by the mummy to be affects the way she walks, her posture etc. So what should you do when such back pain occurs during pregnancy? What if this pain lingers on after delivery? Find out answers to such questions and more..
GetDoc: Are hot baths recommended for pregnant women to ease their back pain occurring due to the pregnancy?
Dr Ben: We doctors do not advise anything hot to pregnant women, especially hot water baths. It could get a bit too hot inside for the baby. A warm shower is surely okay, but not a hot bath or hot shower. Warm water is good for releasing the tense muscles in the body especially the shoulder and the back.
GetDoc: Is chiropractic treatment safe for pregnant mothers?
Dr Ben: Oh yes, chiropractic treatment is perfectly safe for pregnant mothers. Usually when the patient is pregnant, we modify some of the things we do. So for example, we might not use a side posture to adjust the lower back but instead we may use certain tools such as the Activator. Don’t worry it is not as scary as it looks. So what we do is, put this on the lower back, we use this low force technique with this tool. If the patient still requires some adjusting of the lower back, we modify our techniques like instead of side-lying, we may use a small table with a drop piece etc.
GetDoc: I delivered a baby not so long ago. I find myself unable to sleep at night due to back pain, what should I do?
Dr Ben: Back pain is very common during pregnancy, nothing serious about it. Sometimes the pain persists after you deliver, so in your case you can make use of a hot water bag to help you ease the discomfort. Fill it up with hot water and place it on your back. Just make sure you exercise caution when using it on your tummy. As I mentioned earlier, don’t keep an extremely hot bag on your tummy, maybe you can wrap it up in a towel and keep it say for 5 minutes or so. There are a few other things that you can do to help yourself, like for example, recent research suggests that using Magnesium can help. You can get this from a pharmacy as an OTC cream. So all you need to do is apply on your lower back and the muscle spasm decreases. You can also use a pillow behind your back when you are sitting, for support. Place the pillow around your lower back arch.
GetDoc: Why does the bottom of my feet hurt so much during pregnancy? Is there anything I can do to ease the pain?
Dr Ben: Leg cramps are a part of pregnancy – you can have swelling or cramps. As of now, we are not in a position to exactly pinpoint the reason why the bottom of your feet or the soles pain. But what we know is that in pregnant women, swelling tends to occur. This can be seen in the feet or in the calves. So to help ease this, you can wear padded slippers at home for walking around. You can also soak your feet in warm water helps a bit, but don’t worry it will definitely go away. Applying the magnesium oil or cream I just mentioned, on the areas of swelling such as in the calves or if there is some pain there, it surely helps to ease the pain and walking is comfortable. Try not to be seated in one place for too long, move around often. If you get cramps, you can stand up and do simple calf stretches.
You may have seen joggers/runners do some warming up exercises like stand and push against the wall, so the calf muscles are stretched. You can do this for about 10 or 20 seconds and move around a bit.
GetDoc: I constantly have a tingling feeling and weakness on my hands, how can I relieve the pain?
Dr Ben: This is also partly related to pregnancy changes. Research studies show that pregnant mums can have discomfort in the thumb area, the tendons in this area are affected – some discomfort or mild inflammation. After delivery, you may have the carpal tunnel syndrome, which is basically the tingling sensation in the wrist, fingertips or first 2 fingers. You can shake your hand a bit, stretching it in various directions a few times, it will usually give some relief.
GetDoc: I had pelvic pain during pregnancy. Now I have delivered, I still have pelvic pain some times, what should I do about it?
Dr Ben: OK so there is this very interesting finding that was found in pregnant women that they do have pain in the pelvic area after delivery as well. The reason is because once you give birth, there is like a bit of injury/trauma in the pelvic region because of all the pushing or if it is a cesarean section, there will be injury in the stomach wall region. So it might take a few months for the injury to heal. When we take the lower back, there are ligaments that can overstretch when you are pregnant. Generally speaking, this pain should go away in about 4 months after delivery but if it doesn’t go, we advise you to come and get a check-up done. The main reason is that we want to see what the cause of this pain may be, sometimes it could be a simple case of the joints in the spine/lower back getting stuck or jammed so that might need manual adjustment. There could be other reasons as well like the lower back region could be very tense after all the pushing etc.
I would advise checking up with the doctor if the pain persists after say 4 months of delivery. For the moment you could try some stretching exercises.
GetDoc: What stretch exercises would you recommend for a pregnant mum who has otherwise been doing yoga regularly?
Dr Ben: Walking slows down during pregnancy because of the load you are bearing. What you can do is put your hands on your tummy, tilt your pelvis a little bit forward, bend your legs and you can walk around this way. This takes pressure off the tummy, because it is a bit more evenly distributed.
As regards yoga positions, yes, some positions are difficult to do but you can still modify. So keep a bench that’s stable next to you, kneel on one leg, you can do some circular motions with your hands, this will relax your neck, shoulder and back area and release the stiffness in these areas.
You could also try this – lift up your feet one by one by about 2-3 cm from the ground, keeping your hands on your tummy. You do not need to lift very high. May look funny but it is very good for relieving stiffness in the back and good for the body as a whole. I wouldn’t prescribe risky positions such as single leg standing.
GetDoc: I am currently pregnant and if I sit for too long, I get a sore in my lower back, is this because of posture or just sitting too long without moving about? Is there any right posture to maintain?
Dr Ben: As I explained before, pregnancy changes everything because you have a heavy load, so try to get up and move around every hour instead of sitting continuously. What you can do when you are seated in your chair is – keep a pillow in your lower back area for support; you can place a small stool to keep your feet slightly elevated in case you have swelling in your feet, this will take the pressure off the lower back. If there is swelling in the calves, you can consider keeping the feet even higher – when lying down, you can place a few pillows under the feet to elevate it.
GetDoc: Great, so what would you advise a mother who has just given birth, what type of stretches and exercises can I do?
Dr Ben: Since she has already given birth, some exercises are safe to do. One thing I would like to emphasize is that after delivery doing things like planks, sit-ups etc may not be a good idea. The reason is simple – during childbirth, every part of the body is relaxed and loose so the body cannot generate stability when say you want to do planks. Walking uphill is difficult because the body cannot generate stability so we can do some simple moves. Kneel on the floor, place your hands down, almost like a doggy position. Place one leg a bit backward and slide it forward and backward. Repeat this for both legs. This helps to stretch the back a bit and also helps to work on the core muscles without being too stressful on the core or back.
Next you can lie facing up – this is called mini-bridge. Bend both the legs, gently try to lift up the back about 5 cm. Breathe in breathe out accordingly. This provides relief for the lower back and a little bit of gentle strengthening to the legs, buttocks and core. Nothing too stressful since you have just given birth.
GetDoc: How long should we wait before we can start doing vigorous exercises?
Dr Ben: About 4 or 5 months before starting off on vigorous exercises, it also depends on the physique and the fitness level of the individual.
GetDoc: How do I differentiate spinal, ligament, muscle and tendon problems?
Dr Ben: If you feel like an electric shock sensation, that means there is a nerve problem. It is a bit difficult to differentiate muscle and ligament problems and I need to do the evaluation as a physician. But generally speaking, in case of muscles you would be able to feel them. Muscles in the upper part of the lower back, ligaments towards the lower back/hip region. As a layman it can be difficult for you to differentiate because you haven’t undergone the training, if you are concerned please do come in for a check-up.
GetDoc: Any shoulder exercises for people in general?
Dr Ben: Always keep note of how you carry your baby. Don’t exert pressure by bending forward and lifting, it is advisable to angle your body roughly 45 degrees, one leg in the front and the other at the back, scoop and stand up straight. Angling helps to distribute weight to leg muscles rather than put it entirely on the back.
For shoulder blade discomfort, raise the hand forward, thumbs down, lean forward and turn the body a bit. Once you do this, you can feel the stretch in the shoulder blade. You can do this even if you are pregnant. Repeat this for left hand as well. You can do it as often as you feel the discomfort. Say 10 reps holding for 10 seconds each.
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by Hridya
A biochemist by education who could never put what she studied to good use, finally found GetDoc as a medium to do what she loved - bring information to people using a forum that is dedicated to all things medical. View all articles by Hridya.
