‘Tender to the touch’ describes most back pain; ‘tender to the heart’ might describe your pregnancy. Combine the two conditions, and realize why most women are dismayed to find back or sciatica pain as part of pregnancy.
Here are five key points to consider if you or yours are facing back pain or sciatica during pregnancy. Be assured, most pregnancy-related back pain can be managed with instruction in conservative, specialized exercise and body mechanics.
1. Weight gain is not a statistically significant factor for back pain in pregnancy. Don’t let your pregnancy weight gain hold you back from finding solutions to lumbar pain or sciatica discomfort.
2. Hormonal changes, particularly an increase in the hormone relaxin during pregnancy, correlates with back pain. It’s natural.
3. Younger women are more likely than older women to experience back pain during pregnancy. It’s common.
4. The stresses of daily, western living that give rise to high rates of back pain in the general population don’t disappear when most women become pregnant. Learning to successfully manage traveling, sitting, computer use and other back and sciatica pain precipitators becomes more important to ensure comfort during this special stage of life.
5. While only 50% of pregnant women seek treatment from a health care professional for low back or pelvic pain, thorough assessment, diagnosis, treatment and education for symptom prevention and management can help turn a painful pregnancy into a pleasurable one…as it should be.
