Musculoskeletal Pain in Pregnancy.

Musculoskeletal pain during pregnancy is common but not something you have to put up with.

To explain how Chiropractic treatment helps, we'll first take a look at the pregnancy hormone Relaxin. Relaxin alters the properties of cartilage and tendon by activating the enzyme collagenase. This affects the size and elasticity of connective tissues—ligaments and muscles and even involved in remodelling of bone.

This is important from a chiropractic view point because whatever twists you had in your spine and whole skeleton before you got pregnant will now be changing as a result of the effects of this hormone circulating in your body during this time and for approximately 5 months after childbirth.

You may know someone who's back pain disappeared when they got pregnant and hasn't returned or equally someone who never had a bother with their back/neck/shoulders etc until they had children. Aside from the physical stresses of pregnancy, child birth and bringing up children, a woman's body isn't the same as it once was and this absolutely includes the alignment of the spine.

To understand and help pain during pregnancy, let's first take a look at... 

• The condition of your spine before you became pregnant,
  
• How the spine twists to compensate for old injuries and postures,
• Relaxin hormone,
• Foetal position and your posture,
• The pelvic floor & baby sling analogy

Finally an exercise you can try at home.

• A simple exercise you can do that may relieve your back ache and pain, and pubic symphysis disorder pain. If you have knee and/or upper extremity (shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand) problems please seek advice from me or your health care provider before trying this exercise as they will also be a priority for treatment too.
• How treatment at Unwind has helped other mum's-to-be.

Posture affects the unborn baby's position.

Women have a wider, relatively larger pelvis than men for obvious reasons. But what if the position and shape of a lady's low back and pelvis are compromised in some way due to the way the body has had to twist to compensate for old injuries, strains and sitting postures over her life? 

With the added weight bearing over the short 9 month period it must be quite a shock to the joints of the low back, sacroiliac and pubic symphysis joints of the pelvis, not to mention the hips, knees, ankles and feet too! Plus it's not like putting on weight where it would be distributed around the body (with the exception of a classic beer-belly), it's all out in front.

If those joints were slightly 'vulnerable' to strain before getting pregnant it makes sense that they would be the ones to 'feel it' as the baby grows. The good news is, no matter what stage of pregnancy you are at when pain kicks off, it is highly likely that I can help you through posture and exercise advice and treatment where needed.

Anatomical model of a growing baby and the positional relationship between baby and mum's low back, sacrum and pelvis.

An optimum position of mum's skeleton will increase the chances that the foetus can also assume an optimum position too.

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Relaxin Hormone.

The pregnancy hormone Relaxin is released during the first trimester until approximately 5 months after the baby is born. It affects the size and elasticity of ligaments, connective tissue and muscle, preparing the mother's body for adapting to carrying her baby and giving birth.

As I mentioned earlier, this relaxing effect on the body tissues will allow for the body to go further into it's twist or altered alignment. From a biomechanical stress point of view this means the regions of stress will change relative to what they were before pregnancy.

To make sense of this we must remember that the human body works as a whole, a single functioning unit where balance is key. Think of your body as a piece of architecture, this is a great analogy.

This explains why some people who have never experienced musculoskeletal pain before suddenly have a problem and equally those who have suffered for years find that their pain issues are resolving. Sadly for the latter, this doesn't mean they're fixed, it means that the region of the body under the highest compensatory stress and strain has now shifted to another region of the body, that for now, can take the strain. (Often these people tell you they have been experiencing a new pain problem that they haven't had before or in many years.)

Pelvic Floor Muscles.

The balance of the pelvic floor muscles is like a well-tied baby sling.

Think of the pelvic floor as a muscular and ligamentous hammock or baby sling. 
If your spine and pelvis were perfectly symmetrical and aligned the sling would be of perfect, even tension - no tight or loose areas. When the pelvic joints, hips and back and diaphragm are perfectly positioned the pelvis moves in a smooth, gyroscopic motion as we walk and the growing foetus gets to hang out in a comfortable position. 
Physical injury, inactivity and prolonged sitting, particularly sitting or lying twisted cause stiffness and restriction to the normal mechanics of the skeleton and can affect the balance of the pelvic floor and subsequently your baby's positioning.

Crawling

At face-value this might seem like a strange one but bear with me for a second...
An all-fours position takes a lot of the weight of your baby out of your pelvis and hips. Imagine being your baby now, chilling out in the hammock of your super comfy abdomen... dreamy.

From this position, get some movement flowing by moving in a figure of 8 over your hands and knees and then try crawling gently around the room.
It often helps to get your hips higher up than your shoulders, you could rest on your elbows in the yoga pose  extended puppy pose.

An on all-fours position can assist treatment to relieve pain from PSD and low back pain during pregnancy.

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I [followed Sarah's advice] crawled around and it did really help, I forgot how painful my back and hips were!

Georgie. (Georgie is the sister of a friend of Sarah's, she was struggling with back and hip pain in the last few weeks of pregnancy.)

Georgie is the sister of a friend of Sarah's, she was struggling with back and hip pain in the last few weeks of pregnancy.

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I immediately felt more upright and had more energy after you'd worked your magic!

Snuz. (Snuz came to see me for treatment mid-pregnancy for mid-back pain and to improve her posture).

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: It is important to be mindful that if you have any knee or upper extremity issues, including lack of strength in your arms to hold yourself in this position to speak to me or your healthcare provider before doing this activity. I want you to benefit from my recommendations, please remember you are responsible for your own safety.
If you experience any pain doing this you must stop immediately and seek advice.

Sitting

Sitting naturally flares the pelvis and stretches the ligaments surrounding the sacroiliac joints, it's not a position you want to stay in for, ideally any longer than 30 minutes. This goes for everyone, pregnant or not.
Depending on what you sit on and how the seat influences your posture and how much your body slumps in it, it will constrict the room available for your baby.

Who has benefitted from treatment at Unwind...?

I hope it will be reassuring for you to know that the methods of body correction I use for pregnant ladies are simple, gentle and not painful. There are no sudden twisting movements, each correction is done slowly. The visible results speak for themselves like the example here of before and after one treatment photographs.

Notice the subtle changes in this young mum's posture and more importantly the change in position of her 'baby bump'. She looks a little slumped in the before picture - evident from the angle of her head and neck and abdomen. 

These subtle changes that take place on each visit add up over just a short time frame, giving relief from pain, having a clearer head and more energy.

​This is confirmation for me as a practitioner that their skeletal framework is in a more stable and sound position, we can therefore assume that the growing baby is now better supported and must be more comfortable. 

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