You’re pregnant and about to bring another person into the world. Everything’s changing, including your body, and it’s a scary, wonderful and even confusing time for you as you try to balance what’s in the baby’s best interests, and what’s in yours. One of the biggest concerns is how to deal with pain and discomfort as your body adapts to the growing baby’s presence inside you. Fortunately in most cases, physiotherapy can bring about some relief without endangering your baby.
However, as every case will differ, it is important that you choose a professional, qualified and registered physiotherapist, and are open and honest about your health and physical history, and that of your pregnancy so far. Your physiotherapist in downtown Vancouver can then work out a suitable treatment program to help you deal with some of the most common areas of discomfort and pain you are likely to experience during the months preceding your baby’s birth, and those immediately following it.
What areas are most likely to cause discomfort during pregnancy?
The addition of a growing baby inside you is going to force changes on many areas of your body but the chance, prevalence and intensity of their effects will vary in different mothers-to-be. At the core of the matter is the changes in your posture that happen to deal with accommodating a growing belly and weight. These in turn affect your movement pattern and both affect the body’s musculoskeletal system.
The most common problem that results is pain in the lower back, with 60 to 80% of pregnant women experiencing from mild to severe pain in this area as the pregnancy progresses. As the preggie-tummy increases in size, the normal spinal curves may be affected as the body tries to compensate for the shift in gravity this increased abdomen size causes. This sets off a chain reaction in the body, affecting other areas because of the changes in the spine which is responsible for keeping you erect.
Abdominal muscles, like other muscular systems in the body, including those in the pelvic area, can become stretched to a point of lasting weakness. And the feet and legs, unused to carrying the body’s new and heavier weight, suddenly has to adjust to it, as well as being forced into accommodating changes in posture and movement.
Extra weight and too much inactivity complicate the situation. A certain amount of weight gain is expected during a pregnancy, and activity levels do drop off naturally as it becomes more difficult for pregnant women to perform normal everyday actions like sitting, standing and walking as the pregnancy progresses. However, when the weight gain and inactivity levels go beyond the normal levels it can be a problem, increasing posture and movement changes, and the pain and discomfort they cause.
How a physiotherapist can help
Helping combat the pain and discomfort and restore normal functionality is at the core of physiotherapy in general, and pregnancy is no exception.
Most efforts will be centred on the gravity shift problem and its musculoskeletal impact by teaching you how to maintain a good posture, and develop a way of standing, walking and sitting that doesn’t put extra stress on the musculoskeletal system. This is done with a programme aimed at restoring balance to your body and preventing musculoskeletal injury or excessive strain on soft tissue. It will involve the use of movement and stretches, as well as releasing areas which are tight.
Some of the other services the physiotherapist can provide include:
- Lymph drainage massage and exercises to relieve swollen feet resulting from the load put on the body’s circulatory system by extra fluid created during pregnancy.
- Tape or brace support to relieve abdominal discomfort caused by the stretching ligaments.
- Help with stabilizing the pelvic and lower back area and retraining and strengthening the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles in preparation for the birth, and afterwards.
- Develop a suitable home exercise routine suitable for your individual needs.
Provided the process is handled with medical approval and supervision, physical therapy and exercise have been shown to have benefits for both the mother-to-be and the as yet unborn child.
