With pregnancy come various types of aches and pains that an expecting mother may experience in different parts of her body. One of the most common one is the lower back pain during early pregnancy. Such a pain, even throughout the duration of pregnancy, can wreak havoc in your experience of the entire journey. Not only is it annoying, but might also affect you to the point where you find it difficult to continue with your daily chores, at home and even at work. Lower back pain is not to be brushed away easily and there are certain ways to diagnose it and take remedial actions.
Is lower back pain normal in early pregnancy? That’s a question most first-time mothers seem to have in their minds. Even after early pregnancy, it seems to remain present at times throughout the time period.
During pregnancy, your body undergoes intensive changes internally which are reflected in your posture and the way the body carries itself. This triggers a small amount of pressure on the back, causing the mild pregnancy back pain, that most mothers are generally aware of.
With your body expanding in size, various hormones are released as well, some of which are responsible for relaxing the ligaments of the body to take care of the excessive weight. These usually happen in the lower back and the pelvic region, which inevitably puts pressure on the lower back causing pain. If that is further compounded with a strained pelvis and misalignment of joints, the pain may worsen further. Primarily connected to the joints termed as symphysis-pubis and sacroiliac, any disturbance in their usual positions is bound to start a backache all mothers dread.
Causes of lower back pain in early pregnancy and through the entire period can range from biological processes within the body, to physical movement patterns, to even mental well-being.
The baby’s presence in your womb starts shifting the centre of gravity of your body. This changes your original posture so that you may move around comfortably, but also poses undue pressure on the back and the spine as a result.
Progesterone is a hormone that is generated during pregnancy, which is responsible for loosening of the ligaments, allowing your body to stretch and grow. In the latter stages of pregnancy, another hormone termed as Relaxin is responsible for the further widening of your pelvic area and preparing your body for delivery. All these changes in your body result in imbalance and misalignment all over, causing your lower back to start aching.
Lower back pain is not purely related to physical changes. Especially with first-time mothers, the entire process of pregnancy can give them anxiety and great amounts of stress in ensuring they have a safe and healthy one. The immediate response to stress is the tightening of the body muscles, which have a direct consequence of resulting in lower backache.
With the addition of the baby and a general increase in the size of the mother’s body, there is considerable weight gain during pregnancy. The back and spine do not get enough time to start bearing this sudden increase in load for them, resulting in the aches and pain.
Pregnancy causes all your abdominal walls to stretch out. This removes the support that is required for the lumbar joints, which further leads to the vertebrae of your spine to be compressed at the lower end. Increasing uterus size also aggravates it further leading to intense lower back pain.
Here are the common types of lower back pain during pregnancy.
This is the most typical type of pain felt during pregnancy. Occurring majorly in the rear portion of the pelvis, it emerges as a pain somewhere deep inside towards your buttocks, or behind your thighs. For women who continue working during pregnancy, this pain occurs while sitting at the desk and leaning forward or near their waist. Other activities like walking, climbing, or lifting objects can also trigger this pain.
Above your pelvis lie the lower vertebrae, which is the lumbar region of your back. At times, the lumbar pain feels very close to the lower back pain that people on a daily basis generally feel. This is observed in the area surrounding your spine, mostly at the waist level. This pain can sometimes move towards your legs as well. If your day involves sitting at a desk or standing around for extended hours, or even bending down to lift objects, the pain builds up throughout. This ends up in intense pain towards the evening and while heading to sleep at night.
As with any kind of aches, pains, and conditions, mothers who have experienced similar kind of aches earlier in their lives prior to pregnancy, stand a higher chance of experiencing the same pain during pregnancy, if not more. Furthermore, the lifestyle that involves less activity and is primarily sedentary, lacking exercises or so, results in more pain. This is due to the back and abdominal muscles missing the strength that’s required. In special cases, if you are pregnant with more than one baby (twins or triplets), it means more body weight and more stress on the back.
Alleviating lower back pain during pregnancy is possible with proper care and exercises. You can follow the following suggestions for the same.
Rather than relaxing and taking bed rest, getting your body active and doing some basic exercises is a good step towards reducing the pain. Talk to your doctor before you begin any exercise.
With multiple ways to combat the pain, most women start getting relief in one way or another. In certain situations, prior history of the aches can help you take the necessary precautions when getting pregnant. The key is to keep the body healthy and active with regular exercise, and keep the mind stress-free and calm with meditation and relaxing techniques. A combination of all these keeps you pain-free and your baby healthy.