During the third trimester of pregnancy, it is common to suffer from back pain, especially in the lower part of the spine. Discomfort affects 80% of pregnant women, which is not surprising considering that the lower back can suffer a variation in its curvature of up to 28 degrees. This occurs in order to compensate for the increased weight suffered by the abdominal area.
To try to prevent discomfort, exercises to relieve back pain during pregnancy should begin even before pregnancy. The ideal way to prepare the back muscles for pregnancy is to maintain a correct posture when walking and stretching the abdomen, lower back and legs.
4 EXERCISES TO RELIEVE BACK PAIN DURING PREGNANCY
If you are already pregnant, the following exercises will help relieve back pain.
- Lumbar : Lie on your back, cross your arms and bend your legs. Let them gently fall to one side as you turn your head to the opposite side. Then switch sides. Repeat 5 times.
- Dorsals : Sit with your back well against the wall, take a dumbbell in each hand and stretch your arms. Hold that pose for 10 seconds.
- Sit -ups: Lie on your back on a mat, with your legs bent and your feet flat. Try to lift your head off the ground, making sure that where you feel the tension is in your abdominal area, not your neck.
- Relaxation exercises : With the same posture as in the previous exercise, take a breath through your nose and expel it slowly through your mouth. Repeat.
It is important that you do these prenatal exercises gently and, if possible, accompanied.
GUIDELINES TO COMPLEMENT EXERCISES TO RELIEVE BACK PAIN DURING PREGNANCY
Apart from the exercises to relieve back pain during pregnancy, you can also follow a series of recommendations in your day to day:
- Keep your back straight when sitting and walking. Similarly, the hips should go forward.
- Walk.
- Wear comfortable shoes. You can wear a little heel, but not a very high one because they cause you to have to put more pressure on the muscles of the waist.
- At bedtime, do it on your side (better on the left side).
- Don’t lift weight.
- If you have to bend over, do it by bending your knees, not your back.
- Don’t spend too much time standing up, but don’t sit down either.
- When you go to get up or sit down, do it slowly to avoid straining or poor posture.
- Massages can come in very handy, but for this you must first consult a doctor.
EXERCISES TO RELIEVE BACK PAIN DURING PREGNANCY… AND AFTER
You should keep in mind that back pain can also appear after you have given birth. Above all, if you have made a lot of effort or if there has been excessive pelvic dilation. In this case, the best thing is rest. Normally, the pain passes in a few weeks.
As for the characteristics of the pain, this will depend on each woman. But there is one common symptom:
- In most cases the pain is moderate. That does not mean that there are women who have such severe pain that it prevents them from doing their tasks normally, but they are the fewest.
- Back pain can start around week 18 of pregnancy and will increase in intensity, especially between weeks 24 and 36.
- The pain is usually localized in the sacral region and the buttocks.
- During pregnancy, pain is greater in the pelvic region than in the lower back. In the postpartum , it is the other way around.