Do you have lower back pain during pregnancy? Learn how to treat lower back pain during pregnancy?
Pregnancy can stir up all kinds of physical and mental changes to the body. Women suffer from different types of pains throughout pregnancy and lower back pain is a common one.
Let us look at some of the best home remedies for lower back pain during pregnancy.
How to Treat Lower Back Pain during Pregnancy?
Hot and Cold Compress
Applying heat or cold on the pain area reduces the stiffness in the muscles and helps you to relax. Several women get comfort through this compress and get instant relief too.
What to do?
- Take an ice pack and massage or compress it over the area of pain for 15 minutes.
- Do this for two days and start to apply hot compresses for 15 minutes using a hot bag.
- You will start to feel the pain getting relieved.
- You can also pour slight hot water in the lower back area while you are bathing to get instant relief.
Posture Correction
Usually, pregnant women start to lose their posture due to carrying a baby and the weight. This leads to incorrect posture which puts stress on the back. Therefore, correcting your posture can easily relieve you from the pain.
What to do?
- Sit up straight whenever and wherever you sit.
- You can try certain yoga postures which demand you to perform them in straight postures.
- Apart from that, try to support the back with pillows and supports to get the correct posture.
Light Exercise
Keeping your pregnant body in shape has a lot of benefits. It helps you during labor and perfectly maintains your health throughout and after pregnancy too. Therefore, perform light exercises every day.
What can be done?
- Swimming is a perfect choice to relieve stress, burn some calories, maintain posture and relax your body.
- Prenatal yoga has varieties of postures that help you out during pregnancy and labor.
- Walking is essential during this time and try to spend half an hour walking around breathing fresh air.
Just Breath
Many of us may underestimate breathing as it is partially involuntary. But proper breathing is important to supply adequate oxygen in the blood which goes all over the body. Practicing proper breathing exercises relieves pain and stress from the body.
How to do it?
- Sit with your back straight in an erect posture.
- Inhale deep and exhale fully for 2 minutes.
- Then you can close your one nostril and do the inhaling and close the other one and perform the exhaling.
- Repeat this for 3 minutes. Do this exercise every early morning to get the best results.
- While you are inhaling, your abdomen should protrude out and when you are exhaling it should get sucked up. This indicates proper breathing.
Sleep Well and Correct
Sleeping is very important for pregnant women. It promotes the growth of the baby and helps your body to relieve all kinds of stress.
What to do?
- Have your dinner in the evening and go to sleep early.
- Sleep on your side with your knee bent on a pillow. This helps you to support your pregnant belly and relieves the stress from the back.
- Avoid sleeping on the back for long times.
Lifestyle Changes
Apart from these remedies, you should try to change some habits so that it doesn’t increase the pain or complicate it.
- Do not lift heavyweights.
- If you want to pick something up from the ground, do not bend over. Instead, bend your knees to get into a squat position and pick it up.
- Never sit or stand for long periods. Try to move around a bit at distinct intervals.
- Do not wear uncomfortable or tight clothes.
- Do not wear high heels. It puts a lot of pressure on your hip and lowers your back.
- Get a mattress that is firm and not bouncy.
Alternative Therapies
You can also try some of the worldwide alternate therapies such as Acupuncture, Homeopathy, and Yoga. Each of these therapies has a great cure for lower back pain during pregnancy. They are safe and don’t harm your body or the baby.
Also read this too:
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- How to Get Rid of Endometriosis Bloat
What Causes Lower Back Pain in Pregnancy?
A hormone called relaxin secreted during the pregnancy tends to soften your ligaments so that they can stretch for the accommodation of the baby. This also helps in the flexibility of the pelvis during labor.
Since all the ligaments in the body become soft, it can strain the joints in the lower back and the pelvis. That is why it is common to witness back pain during pregnancy.
Apart from this, excessive weight gain can also lead to severe lower back pain. Usually, women gain some pounds during this time, but it puts pressure on the spine and pelvis that leads to pain. Sometimes emotional stress can also bring tension to the muscles.
Do Any Devices Help to Lower Back Pain?
Yes, there is a device called a maternity belt that supports your belly and relieves the strain from your pelvis and the lower back. Since the belly is protruding in the front, the weight gets served across the midsection.
The maternity belt is designed in such a way that it holds the belly up and the strain from the pelvic girdle and lower back is lifted. So, the belt takes the pressure away from the abdomen and lowers the curvature of the spine.
When Should I Worry About Back Pain In Pregnancy?
For the following signs and symptoms, you should contact your health care provider immediately:
- If the back pain is associated with abdominal cramps.
- The pain is persistent for more than two weeks.
- If the pain gets severe day by day.
- If there is numbness, tingling, or sharp pain in the lower limbs or buttocks.
- If there are contractions or bleedings associated with it.
- If you feel uncomfortable in all postures.
Conclusion
Lower back pain is very common during pregnancy. Usually, there is nothing to worry about.
These home remedies will take care of the pain and relieve it. But if there are any serious symptoms, proceed to the nearest hospital immediately.
