Did you know that the two most common complaints during pregnancy are low back pain and pelvic girdle pain? Studies have shown that these conditions affect about half of expecting mothers. In the postpartum period, it is even shown that about one and five women continue to experience this pain for up to three years following the birth of their child.
There doesn’t seem to be one reason why pregnant women develop these conditions. A few contributing factors could be maternal weight gain, spinal biomechanical pregnancy related changes, and abdominal muscle changes that have occurred in order to grow the fetus. Drink Agnanti, the body begins circulating a hormone called relaxing. This hormone relaxes the joints and ligaments in order to prepare for labor and delivery.
Pregnancy related low back pain and pelvic girdle pain are quite common in women as we can see. Although this is true, there is not much information published on effective treatment options. There have been some controlled trials with respect to the use of chiropractic care, but most published studies involve case studies and small trials.
A 2016 review looked over 10 studies with around 1000 pregnant women, and found that chiropractic care is an effective treatment for reducing pain in pregnant women with the two conditions. With this being said, authors recommended additional studies with larger patient populations.
Chiropractors will use a multi modal approach to manage the pain that pregnant women experience. This can be a combination of manual therapy, massage, muscle release techniques, exercise training, diet, nutritional counseling, and stabilizing belts, the chiropractor will most likely modify the treatments for the comfort of the patients and to accommodate the growing fetus.
Do you have pain or discomfort? Reach out today! Through chiropractic, physical therapy and other treatment options, we have many options to help you. Schedule an appointment today or call us (212) 371-2000
