Back pain is a very common complaint of women who are pregnant and in the postpartum period. It can come straight from the spine; more often it actually comes from a joint in the pelvis that we refer to as the sacroiliac joint, or SI joint. The postural changes of pregnancy and hormonal changes of pregnancy make that joint just more susceptible to flexibility and instability, and it can create pain in the back, pain in the butt, pain in the hip, in the groin, even down into the legs.
Things you can do for yourself when you have back pain during pregnancy is to address your posture. You may need to visit your physical therapist to learn how to use your core muscles during pregnancy because one of the main core muscles, our transversus abdominis, which is the lower abdominal muscle that really provides a lot of core support is not as accessible.
It has a different function during pregnancy; to support the uterus and then growing abdomen. So we have to look at trying to find other trunk stabilizers and core muscles to use during the pregnancy period. In the postpartum period, it's a little different because we want to really focus on getting those deep abdominals back to functioning, and also even considering addressing the pelvic floor muscles.
- 1674 views
