Back pain during pregnancy can be debilitating.  Understanding the sources of back pain might give you better insight to the facts and myths about pain with pregnancy as well.

Lower back pain can accompany constipation and the cramps during pregnancy can be miserable for a new mother-to-be.  A mother’s body is accommodating and adapting so much in the first trimester it often can throw her bowels into a temporary ‘freeze.’  The nerves emanating from the lower back eventually innervate the lower GI tract, which consists of a lot of smooth muscle; hence the correlation between low back pain and constipation. Many times this can easily be managed with the proper care. The irregularity can often be relieved with an appropriate dose of magnesium citrate.

If you’re experiencing 1^st trimester back pain, a chiropractor can a great place to start in relieving or managing your spinal discomfort.  It’s common (although not normal) to get back pain with pregnancy.  Many times the added weight gain during pregnancy can cause a previously hidden biomechanical fault to come to the surface where it now expresses itself as pain, when before you’re body was managing it.  So if you’re experiencing these symptoms..all the more reason to be in the hands of a competent provider for back pain relief while your pregnant. In my clinic we frequently use the ProAdjuster, which is a computerized instrument that gently assists the body to realigning. Sometimes mom’s just cant comfortably get in a position to be manually adjusted. So this new technology is quite a relief.

2^nd trimester and 3^rd trimester pains, though still somewhat related are a little more unique than the first trimester (as far as back pain goes).  The second and especially the third trimester are more and more devoted to the growth of your baby.  The fetus is growing so much that the source of your discomfort may in fact be due to altered biomechanics such as pelvic bowl changes. We all know that some pregnant mothers have a distinct waddle:). It is, however, possible to maintain a functional and healthy gait if you are being monitored by a physical medicine specialist. Many times something as simple a case specific exercise may do the trick.

Along with back pain during your pregnancy, I see a lot of athletic mothers in Denver so I focus on treating extremities too.  Leg cramps especially unilateral can be treated with adjustments too.  There aren’t many supplements, pills or drugs that treat the cause of your ‘one-sided’ leg cramps.  Consider the ‘waddle’ again for a second and you might notice that one side of your body has to work a little harder than the other.  If a certain set of muscles is ‘overworked and underpaid’ then the untreated cause may contribute to a symptom in the form of cramps.  This is where a chiropractor can really help with back pain during pregnancy. Our clinic is in Lakewood, CO.

When it comes to back pain relief, a visit to the chiropractor has to be on the list, in most cases. Although we’re ‘not real doctors’ To become a chiropractor one must do so by national licensing and national board certifications…not to mention a 4 year bachelor’s degree and 4-5 years of doctoral training in a professional accredited chiropractic university. (Including cadaver lab at 7AM for a year ) And people wonder why I don’t want to go see “Body World’s.”

Back to back pain…

Since back pain relief is so elusive, personally, I like to bring in “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men” to battle it. Most of the time, that’s what it takes.

You get knocked down 7 times, we stand up 8.

There are some home remedies like a topical analgesic, l use Biofreeze. It can provide temporary pain reduction, but by no means is it a cure.  Analgesics like aspirin or Tylenol are often recommended for low grade back pain relief, but unfortunately this option rarely treats the actual CAUSE of the pain.  It’s highly unlikely that your pain is coming from a LACK of aspirin or Tylenol flowing in your veins.

Back pain causes..

Back pain is caused by various conditions and a proper diagnosis will determine proper therapy.  To get a good idea of what’s causing your discomfort, make a journal of the physical things you do the most. Sitting, driving, sleeping, whatever and review how you are performing them. Example: Today I was driving and the car in front of me looked like their was a passenger  driver was in the very middle of the car with no driver. As I pulled up next to him and looked, the driver was slunk over so far that his head was in the middle of the car! God forbid he get rear ended in a position like that…ouch!

Pain relief should start with first knowing what’s causing the pain. Too many doc’s just use the ’shotgun approach.’ The most conservative options such as manipulation therapy, physical therapy, massage, ice or heat should be attempted first.

Acute and chronic conditions can offer a different approach for back pain relief.  Overuse injuries are often chronic in nature.  This being the case, the management of your condition will become more of a process than an event. Sometimes you can expect immediate relief, but often times injuries result in tissue damage which will lend itself to a treatment plan that isn’t an overnight miracle, although we take them when we can.

Things to consider when seeing your Denver chiropractor are not only how long you’ve dealt with low back pain, but also how you my have injured your back.  Mechanism of injury and daily activities give your doctor a better idea of how the injury was sustained.  In knowing this, the doctor can offer better recovery options for you.  In this case, knowing the past can give clues to preventing the spinal pain from coming back.

Things to consider regarding back pain relief:

• How old is your mattress?
• What kind of shoes do you wear? (Check back for a blog post on the “best shoes for back pain” soon)
  
• How much core exercise do you do?
• What’s your posture like? (Like right now?)
  
• When was the last time you sat and performed back pain stretches for 20 minutes?
• How much water do you drink? Let me guess.. “Not as much as I should.” (I’ve heard that one a few times)
• Do you eat a lot of boxed or packaged foods? (They’re inflammatory, you know)
• Omega-3 fatty acids in your diet?
  
• Are you taking a magnesium supplement? Most should be.
  
• Look at the amount of stress you’re dealing with. Most people have no idea how much stress contributes to physical pain.

Here’s a big one that most people have no idea about…Statin drugs are also a HUGE contributor to back, neck and joint pain! I’m seeing it more and more. Patients get off the statins and low and behold… back pain relief!

**As always, remember we serve Denver, Lakewood, Englewood and all of Littleton.

What’s the best lower back exercise? Drum roll please…

There isn’t one- but here’s what you really need to know to help get rid of low back pain.

There are literally hundreds of exercises and treatments for lower back pain. Some require expensive equipment, some are moves adapted from yoga or maybe it’s a lower back stretch or stress reduction technique. Plenty of things can be done at home. And when it comes down to it, you’re the one that has to choose what to do to help manage your pain.

How?

By listening to your body. One of the major virtues in life is to learn how to listen to the inner wisdom of your body. I mean really listen. Memorize the following rules, they’ll teach you how to choose the best lower back exercise.

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