Causes and Treatments for Back Pain During Pregnancy

Pregnancy lights up your small world as it brings so many fun experiences into your life. This is exactly the way every parent expects it to be. But, sometimes it can be a little painful on your back.

Most pregnant women experience pain in their back during the second half of pregnancy. So, to avoid the discomfort there are many things you can do and one of the best ones is putting on an abdominal support belt. This belly band provides necessary support to your baby bump which helps in reducing pelvic and hip pain.

Causes of Back Pain

Let’s reflect on the reasons why it gives so much pain in your back during the special phase of your life called pregnancy.

Posture change: As you must be aware, being pregnant changes your center of gravity. Thus, you’d ultimately find yourself changing your posture while walking and sitting. This puts pressure on your back and that becomes the reason for your pain.

Emotional stress: During your stressful period, the emotional stress that you feel causes muscle tension in your back and that leads to back spasms.

Weight gain: It is normal for a pregnant woman to gain 20-30 pounds as there is a life being nurtured inside her body. So, the spine has to support that extra weight which gives you pain in your lower back. The weight of the uterus, as well as the baby, puts extra pressure on nerves and blood vessels in the back of your body.

Hormonal changes: The same hormone (relaxing) that prepares your body for childbirth can cause ligaments to loosen which further leads to pain in your back.

Treatments for Back Pain

There are plenty of techniques you can use to get rid of uncomfortable back pain that you regularly feel during pregnancy days. Let’s discuss them one by one:

Heat and cold therapy: If your doctor recommends, you can put a pack of ice or frozen vegetables wrapped in a cheesecloth or towel on the affected area for 15-20 minutes. After a few days, you can put a heating water bottle or heating pad on your back. Be sure to keep heat away from your abdomen.

Regular exercise activity: Safe exercises can be really beneficial during pregnancy days. Walking, cycling, or swimming improve your flexibility and strengthen the muscles as well. You can also discuss with your physician who can suggest appropriate exercises that alleviate your back pain.

Acupuncture exercise: This is one of the most popular techniques of Chinese medicine in which thin needles are inserted in certain locations of your body parts. Thus, if you’d want to perform this exercise, do talk to your doctor about it first and then get on reaping the benefits of acupuncture.

Chiropractic care: It involves your joint and spine manipulation to give you relief from the pain. But, before you try, do chat with your physician about it and if recommended, go for it.

Counseling: If you are going through mental stress due to prolonged pain in your body parts then it is best to talk to a friend or counselor about it. We are sure you'd be pretty sorted after a nice heart-to-heart counseling session.

Conclusion

It always helps if you can resist sleeping on your back and choose low-heeled shoes as and when you step out of the home. However, if your back pain still continues to bother you, you may consult a doctor to try more healing techniques for your back pain.

But, we’d suggest you can start by investing in an abdominal belt that makes your days easier especially when you have things to do at hand.