Back pain during pregnancy is not a new concept, but for people who suffer from scoliosis require a second thought to be given before, they plan to go through the process of pregnancy. Scoliosis is the disease of the spine in which the posture of the spine is deviated to form S or C shaped curvature, which can turn to be quite painful during pregnancy. However, this is not a reason that why you should postpone your pregnancy, as you can still go through pregnancy by using proper pain management techniques.
Back pain during pregnancy is a normal phenomenon that requires no fear. All the discomforts that you will be facing during pregnancy are because of the pressure that your little one inside your tummy is going to cause. Moreover, if you are a scoliosis patient then the chances of increased back pain is higher than what you would normally expect leaving you with a question of whether the back pain is owing to scoliosis or pregnancy. On the other hand, you will find pregnancy stabilizes scoliosis because of the transition that your body will be going through as a result of the hormonal fluctuations. If only you can follow these top ten tips to manage your back pain during pregnancy, and care should be taken with your scoliosis prescription, which may occasionally cause birth defects.
However, the discussion on back pain management tips will help to alleviate the problem of scoliosis. But before that there are three types of back pain - acute if the back pain does not last longer than three months, recurrent if the back pain occurs repeatedly and chronic back pain, which lasts longer than three months.
The kind of back pain that you will be facing during pregnancy and scoliosis is low back pain, which is found to occur in three different locations. Lumbar pain that may or may not spread down to your legs, sacroiliac pain occurs in the distal and lateral regions of the spine and nocturnal pain are the ones that occurs in the lumbar regions only during night. As mentioned elsewhere, the culprit for the pain could not be abruptly blamed on scoliosis or pregnancy for the possibility could be due to both of them.
1. Practice good posture:
You will find that the center of gravity shifts with the development of your baby and may force you to fall forwards. This could cause a strain on your spine with scoliosis increasing the curvature and the pain. There are some simple things that you can do to help you to alleviate the symptoms of back pain like:
• Stand up straight and tall
• Hold your chest high
• Keep your shoulders relaxed and at the back, do not lean forward.
• Stop locking your knees.
• Sit on a chair that will support your back or use a pillow.
2. Wear the correct clothes and accessories:
What you wear also matters while you are pregnant and is a victim of scoliosis. Some of the clothes that can help you in alleviating the back pain during pregnancy when you are a scoliosis sufferer are the use of maternity pants and supportive waistbands. This is also advisable to wear low-heeled flat shoes to remove the strain that high-heeled shoes can cause on both your spine, back and neck.
3. Lift properly:
Whether you have scoliosis or not you are always asked to lift objects as per the size and weight of the objects in a proper manner to prevent not only back pain, but also to be gentle on your delicate spine. And if you have scoliosis, and on top of that if you are pregnant, see that you lift objects appropriately, for example, lift heavy objects by sitting to the level of the object and then stand up slowly and steadily. If you did ask what to do, I will ask for a second or a third hand too!
4. Sleep properly:
The good thing while you sleep is to have a deep sleep but conscious by developing the habit of sleeping on one side. The doctor will advise you which side to sleep depending on the posture of the baby. This is also advisable to keep your knees bent while you sleep, and place pillows between them (there is no point in giving heed to cultural taboos, just ignore them even if you are hurt), and use another pillow under the abdomen to bear the whole weight and/or use a full length pillow.
5. Try heat or cold or massage therapy:
I will strongly recommend this to anyone suffering from pain for this helped me when I was suffering from severe neck pain. A good hot mat under the area of pain relieves not only the pain but also the fear of catching cold when you use a cold mat. In contrast, the cold massage therapies are also equivalently good and choose the one that works the best for you. Alternatively, you could also ask someone to massage a balm or pain relieving ointments, but only after consult a doctor, for the doctor may suggest a professional massage therapy if required. Listen to your gynecologist and chiropractic, and see that you link both of them.
6. Follow a gentle exercise regime:
These days people become pregnant in their thirties and forties, that they get pregnant pass through their age and are therefore vital that you regularly check with your gynecologist. Besides, if you are suffering from scoliosis, the chances of the back pain becoming severe are higher, despite the established fact that there is no relationship between scoliosis and pregnancy. This is good that you take advice of your gynec to schedule some gentle exercise, which not only helps in making delivery much easier, but might also have a positive effect on your scoliosis condition, alleviating the curvature. Some of the gentle exercises recommended are walking and/or swimming, lower back stretching exercise and other stretching exercises as recommended by the physician.
7. Alternative therapies:
The option of choosing an alternative therapy has to be done only after consulting your chiropractic and gynec. One of the main alternative therapies that have been believed to be of some use in relieving pain is acupuncture therapy. This therapy involves the use of needles to prick at energy points, which in turn somehow happens to activate the natural pain relief system. You will be expecting to be pricked with needles, which will have the pain of a pinprick, and may or may not require several visits to get complete relief from the pain, at least until you deliver the baby to the outside world. Sounds awful, but many who have undergone this therapy recommend and prefer this better than medicines that might have side effects.
8. Yoga:
Prenatal yoga has been described and prescribed by many as one of the best way to tone parts of the body that will be affected by performing yoga. They have found out that the position that is attained during the yoga practice promotes the relaxation of back muscles and relieves the strain of carrying the little one in its bag.
9. Chiropractic care:
The chiropractor could be of immense help, especially if you are already aware of your condition, scoliosis, then this will do good for you to discuss frankly with your physician about your idea of having a baby. This is also best to go to the gynecologist directed by him/her, who will understand the treatment being given and will be helping in giving you a holistic approach to handle the back pain efficiently. While the chiropractor will help in relieving the stress on the nerves, which adds to the already existing woes of scoliosis, and since he knows you before the pregnancy, during the pregnancy and after the pregnancy, stick on to the same chiropractor.
10. A Balanced Nutrition and a Holistic approach:
Whatever you do there is nothing like being healed naturally by boosting your body's immune system and recuperative power. This is the procedure that has been described in detail by a chiropractor, Dr. Kevin Lau, who overcame scoliosis following a strict and disciplined diet based on his body metabolic requirements. However, when this comes to pregnancy, he has been using the same holistic approach of combining the western medicine and the traditional treatment methods of scoliosis with simple pregnancy exercises and appropriate food, which you will be able to formulate only by frankly discussing with your doctor.
Now is that you have ten important and best tips that anyone else can give you to relieve your back pain. As you would have noticed all these tips only tell you what you can do and where you can find some relief from your back pain. Try some of the simple tips like heat or cold pad to relieve the back pain initially, and if these does not help you, never ever venture into something new without consulting your doctor.
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