From conception to the birth of the child, your body undergoes a radical transformation to accommodate this growing life. As your center of gravity changes, a greater burden gets placed on the back muscles and can lead to intermittent pain. While some women believe that as soon as they give birth, that pain goes away, they often get caught by surprise when the pain lingers well after their due date.
What Causes Back Pain in Women After Pregnancy
Now that the child has entered the world, you’re spending more time carrying them in your arms, bending down to grab their toys, and lifting them while they continue to grow. Even if they are no longer in the womb, you’re constantly picking up that weight and moving it around your home.
Some of the additional causes of your postpartum back pain include:
- Pregnancy hormones that loosen your ligaments and joints
- Strained abdominal muscles
- Holding your growing child the wrong way
Instead of learning to live with it, there are methods you can use to address the lingering back pain and feel the relief you crave, including:
Staying Mindful of How You Bend and Lift
The underlying causes of lower back pain revolve around a simple fact — most people don’t know how to pick objects or people up correctly. Some may try to lift their child with the entirety of their back. Staying mindful to start the movement with your knees and not your back will help ease the strain.
Avoid Hunching
When feeding your child, you may feel the temptation to hunch over and coo into their ear to show affection. The cooing can stay but avoid hunching over too much. Curving your spine can lead to more pronounced back pain that requires dedicated stretching and physical therapy.
Start to Strengthen Your Core Muscles as Soon as You’re Comfortable
For many mothers, pregnancy took a toll on their core and back strength. In most cases, continuing to exercise while carrying their child to term presented a challenge they didn’t want to tackle. With these vital muscle groups not receiving the training they may have grown accustomed to, their relative strength may not be close to where it once was.
While you may not want to dive straight into complicated exercises in your first session, starting slowly can prove immensely beneficial. Your doctor or chiropractor can recommend specific movements that remain easy to perform but offer a wealth of benefits to help strengthen your back and core muscles to prevent recurring back pain.
Avoid Standing for Extended Periods
Pain in your spine isn’t limited to picking things up — it can involve the length you’re in an upright position. Many women focus on standing throughout their day — holding their child, cooking dinner, and doing other chores around the house without thinking about how it all affects their spine. Even taking some pressure off your spine for a little bit can benefit your overall health.
Placing one foot on a stool or elevated ledge can alleviate some pressure and give you immediate pain relief.
Schedule Regular Chiropractic Sessions
During your pregnancy, you may have found that regular visits to a chiropractor helped reduce the pain you felt in your lower and upper back. When your body continued to change to accommodate your growing child, your friends at the Community Chiropractic Center helped ease the pain and stress you experienced. The same can be true for your postpartum back pain.
Our expertly trained pregnancy chiropractors in Blue Bell, PA, know how to identify and treat your back pain and make the necessary spinal adjustments you need to feel your best. We work with our patients to deliver the specialized lower back pain chiropractic care you need. Contact a member of our staff to schedule your next appointment and experience the benefits of a back pain-free life today!