Whether it be the first, second, or third trimester of pregnancy, chances are that you will experience this very uncomfortable but very common side effect of pregnancy. I currently am in the end of my second trimester and back pain has most definitely been an issue for me since almost the very beginning. I have had back pain everywhere, everywhere from lower back, the middle of my back, the top of my back, around my neck and shoulders, and all along my spine. Like I said, I have had back pain everywhere! Now, with all this back pain I have just about exhausted every resource possible on finding out ways to reduce and prevent this pain. Since researching the subject I have found a lot of possible solutions, some have worked and others have not. I have decided to write an article on this so if your up at 2:00am looking for ways to reduce your back pain this can be your one stop advice article. I hope theses ideas help you as they have helped me!
The cat stretch. This is actually a stretch that I learned about in ballet class years ago that helps gently stretch out your back without putting much pressure any where else on your body. I do this every night and every morning and it helps keep back pain at bay. But aside from doing it twice a day, if I wake up in the middle of the night and my back just hurts like crazy, doing this pregnancy stretch always helps relieve the pressure; I once even fell asleep while in this position! Ok, enough talk, this is what you do. Put both knees on the floor shoulder width apart, then put both hands, palms flat, and fingers facing forwards flat on the floor in front of you so you are almost in a doggy style position. Keep your back completely straight for a few seconds, then let your belly drop down a little bit and let your back make a curve and hold that for a few seconds. If you do this several times it will help relive the pressure. What I like to do after doing that a few times is let my head rest all the way to the floor and have my arms out so that my elbows are parallel with my ears and my palms still flat on the floor facing forward. I let my bottom stick straight up in the air and hold this position for as long as it feels comfortable. This is the way that I actually sleep some nights!
Another way to relive back pressure is to sleep correctly. When your pregnant there are so many ways that you are not allowed to sleep. Your not supposed to sleep on your back because the pressure of your uterus can put to much pressure on different major blood veins and restrict blood flow and of course there comes a certain point where it’s just not practical to lay on your belly, for obvious reasons of course! The best way to sleep is laying on your left side with a pillow between your legs. You can either use a body pillow or a regular sized pillow folded in half. This keeps your spine straight and laying on your left side promotes the most blood flow.
Take a warm bath! This is another one that I use quite often. You of course should never be submerged in water any hotter that 99 degrees (you can ask you doctor to be sure) but you can still take a calming and soothing warm bath. Just run the water, get in, and let your back relax! Oh, and don’t forget a cup of soothing non caffeinated tea!
Get a message! Sure, it can get pretty pricey to go and get a prenatal massage professionally, but never underestimate what your husband (or any other caring close friend or family member) can do for you. Just make sure you use massage oil so when the person who is massaging they don’t pull the skin because that can hurt. Well those are just a few of the ways to relieve the pain but they definitely work and I use at least one of them daily; I hope they work as well for you as they have for me. Happy pregnancy!
