How to Reduce Pregnancy Pains at Home
As many of you know, I help many pregnant ladies with their pregnancy pains. The most common issues I see are mid back pain, SI joint pain, or sciatic pain, but there are many other ways that your body adjusts and can cause discomfort for you as you’re growing.
Truthfully, until now many of the techniques I learnt during my obstetrics training and with my mentors were all theoretical. Sure, I had success, but it wasn’t like I truly knew how the techniques I was taught actually helped my pregnant clients. How could I know? I could read all the obstetrics books in the world and have a thorough understanding from a theoretical standpoint what is happening to these women, but I wouldn’t really be able to experience the changes myself and understand the level of relief I was giving them.
As I now deal with all the aches and pains myself as I grow through my own pregnancy, I am growing an even deeper appreciation for the work an osteopathic practitioner can do to relieve my discomfort. I get a decent amount of back pain, SI joint pain, sciatic pain, and indigestion (I know, how ironic…) and I can tell you with personal experience exactly how certain techniques relieve my pains.
There is a silver lining. Sure, I am not moving around as easy as some other women through their pregnancies. However, I am so thankful for all the aches and pains that I am going through currently because I think it is helping me become a better practitioner for my pregnant clients. When they come into my office complaining about their aches and pains, I have grown a deeper understanding and sympathy for what they are going through. In fact, I literally know what they are going through!
So, through my pregnancy I have enlisted the help of my partner and my friends, and through trial and error I have come up with a list of techniques that I think help relieve my pain the most. Many of these techniques can be easily done at home and could be a huge lifesaver when you’re unable to sleep because of that aching back pain. Some of these you can do on your own, others you need the help of a partner or friend.
**Please note: If you are experiencing any pains make sure to talk to your healthcare practitioner responsible for your pregnancy before trying these techniques. Especially if the pains are consistent, accompanied with bleeding, or you have been put on pelvic or bed rest by your healthcare provider. However, if you have been cleared by your provider, feel free to use these strategies to relieve your aches and pains – enjoy!
Common Pregnancy Pains and Methods to Relieve Them:
Aching Back Pain
That stabby/achy mid-back pain us pregnant ladies know too well is usually caused by diaphragm tension. As your baby (and uterus) grows, you begin to build extra pressure in your abdominal cavity. This pushes your gut up against your diaphragm muscle (which is your big breathing muscle that separates your abdominal cavity with your lung cavity). Since your diaphragm is attached to the ribs of your mid back, that pressure sometimes comes across as aching mid-back pain. It is most common during the second half of your pregnancy, at the end of the day, or after a big meal because that is when the abdominal pressure is at its highest. You can relieve this pain with a few easy stretches.
While sitting, place your one hand on your lower ribs and reach your other hand up and over. It is kind of like a modified side stretch where you are focusing on opening the diaphragm. Take a few deep breaths to stretch that side of the diaphragm. You can also find the specific ribs that feel the tightest and anchor them down with your bottom hand for a deeper stretch. Usually these are ribs 7-10.
You can also do this one on your side or with the help of a partner if that is easier for you.
You can also relieve some of this pressure by releasing the paraspinal muscles of the mid-back. For you geeks out there, this technique works best between T5-L3 – so basically mid-back). For this one you will need a partner, but believe me it is worth it! This works really well for me if I am experiencing that stabbing pain before I go to sleep. The goal of this exercise is to relieve some tension off the vertebrae surrounding the diaphragm attachments, which are all tight because of that tension.
Have your partner place their hands on the inside of the paraspinal muscles (right next to the spine on either side) and release them by gently pulling them away from the spine (out to the side). Take the time to find which level is the tightest, so you can obtain the most relief. Do this one gently - patience is key with this exercises. Keep holding long enough for the tissues to release then find another level and repeat.
After this exercise (releasing the paraspinal muscles), get your partner to give you a spinal flush by gently pushing their fists up and down on either side of your spine. What you are doing is massaging not only her sore/tight muscles but also pumping the rib joints in such a way to release some tension from those achy ribs. This one is so easy for your partner to do and it is a real lifesaver when that tension is making it hard to sleep. You can also do this one on your side (ie. when you are lying in bed).
Have your patner place their fists on either side of the spine. Gently message by working up and down the spine. This can be done all the way down to the pelvis and and back up.
2. Hip tension and SI joint pain
For sciatic issues, I recommend seeing an osteopathic practitioner or other manual therapist with experience in obstetrics. However, there are things you can do at home to relieve some of the SI joint pain and hip tension. This pain typically happens because of the extra weight and abdominal pressure on the lower abdomen, which sits nicely in the pelvis. It is more common with low-sitting pregnancies because as the baby grows he or she pushes against the hip bones (causing the SI joint pain), and/or against the pelvic floor (causing the sciatic pain). Because your body is so awesome at trying to help you, your pelvic muscles tense up like scaffolding trying to keep all your pelvic joints together as your baby grows.
To relieve the pain, sometimes it is helpful to gently stretch glute muscles, which in turn takes the pressure off the pelvis. Again, it is important to do this gently as you don’t want to relieve all the tension - those muscles are helping you to an extent - you just want to relieve enough tension to take away the pain.
If that doesn’t work, ask your partner for some help with those glute muscles by asking them to gently message those glutes with their fists.
While sitting, lift one leg and place on top of your thigh. Slowly lower the top knee, creating the number “4” with your legs. You will probably notice that some days you are a lot more flexible than other days with this stretch. Regardless of how far you can lower your leg that day, make sure to stretch it gently and allow the relaxin hormone (which is flowing through your body making you extra flexible) do most of the stretch. I like to use my forearms on my legs to help the stretch along, but I am in no way putting my body weight onto the leg.
Have your partner place their fists below the hips, on the glute muscles and gently message in a rotating motion.
3. Prevention
Although these techniques can be helpful at home when you are struggling to walk or sleep, these are not meant to be your only line of defense. Prevention is key when going through a pregnancy. With that said, here are some things you can do to prevent the pains from coming in the first place.
Enjoy a pregnancy safe exercise program like swimming, pilates, prenatal yoga, low-impact strength training, or low-impact aerobics. Avoid exercises that require jumping or heavy breathing, or if you have been told to not exercise by your healthcare practitioner. For me, pilates has been a life saver. If I have stronger core muscles, my glute muscles don’t need to work as hard to hold my pelvis together - which as I mentioned is a major cause of my pelvic pain.
Schedule regular appointments with your manual therapist like an osteopathic practitioner, physiotherapist, or registered massage therapist. Make sure whoever you see has training in obstetrics because not all therapists are trained the same and it is important to go to someone who knows how to keep you safe and pain-free.
Take time to relax and recover daily. Growing a baby requires lots of energy. All your energy stores used to be reserved for just you, but now you are sharing them with someone else - a very hungry someone else! You are simply not going to be able to achieve all the tasks that you used to be able to achieve in a day. I like to think of resting as a tool I have to help me re-fuel my energy stores, not just for me but also for my baby.
Eat healthy and take your prenatal vitamins. Not only is this vital for the health of your baby, but also for your personal health. When it comes to growing a baby, baby comes first. This means that if you are low in a certain nutrient, your body will harvest this nutrient from you and give it to the baby - leaving you depleted for the nutrients that are important to keep you healthy, happy, and pain-free!
That’s all for now folks! I hope you enjoyed this article. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions.
With love,
Britte Nielsen, DOMP, CPT, RHN
Osteopathic Practitioner, Registered Holistic Nutritionist
Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is to give out general education and is in no way meant for the purpose of diagnosis, medical intervention, or any other controlled act that requires medical attention.