Severe Pregnancy Back Pain

Hi L.:
I copied this article,describing early back pain during pregnancy,and some of its causes. I hope this helps a little,and that you find some relief.Your physician should be able to help provide you with some suggestions,and or relief. There are a few ideas in this short article. I hope your feeling better soon.J. M.

Pain In The Lower Back During Early Pregnancy
Pregnancy can be a time of overall discomfort. Some of the very first signs of early pregnancy, in fact, tend to be things like tenderness of the breasts, morning sickness, and muscle cramps. Pain in the lower back during early pregnancy is also very common. some studies suggest that more than half of moms-to-be will experience some degree of back pain during early pregnancy, in fact.

Back pain in early pregnancy is generally because of the way that the hormone progesterone affects a woman’s body. The progesterone softens the ligaments and discs in a woman’s back that support her upper body. This pain will sometimes be accompanied by muscle spasms or cramps in the lower back as well. For some women, lower back pain during early pregnancy can also be caused by a urinary tract infection.

The best treatment for lower back pain during early pregnancy tends to be exercise. A variety of exercises, such as pelvic rocking, mini-crunches, and walking are all excellent exercises that will help to relieve back pain during early pregnancy.

Posture plays an important role in back pain during early pregnancy as well. While later on in pregnancy posture becomes even more important as a woman’s center of gravity changes, having correct posture can also help to relieve and even avoid lower back pain in early pregnancy. By making sure that you are sitting or standing straight, you can maintain good posture.

Rest is another important component in helping with lower back pain during early pregnancy. Even if you have difficulty sleeping, as many women do during early pregnancy, you should still try to spend at least some time every day laying down. Often, lying on your side with a pillow between your legs can help to relieve some of your lower back pain.

In addition, you should practice safe lifting techniques while you are pregnant. If at all possible, you should avoid any heavy lifting. If you must lift something, be sure to lift with your knees, rather than with your back.

The good news is that, generally, lower back pain in early pregnancy tends to disappear by around the 20th week of pregnancy. If you have severe or chronic back pain, you should talk with your health care provider. She may be able to help determine what exactly is causing the pain, and how best to treat it.

Try acupuncture. It worked well for my Hubby who has back pain.
Just find one that handles pregnant women.

I also used acupuncture for my horrible morning sickness/migraines with my 2 pregnancies, and it helped perfectly.

oh! I just remembered, there are belly/back support things for pregnant women. Perhaps try that? Here are some links for examples:
http://www.docortho.com/braces-and-supports/maternity-sup...
http://www.city-data.com/forum/parenting/174502-back-bell...
www.amazon.com (just put in the search words 'maternity supports')
http://pregnancy.about.com/od/backache/a/backache.htm

All the best,
Susan

I had a lot of back pain early on with my pregnancy too. At about 4 months I started seeing my chiropractor. It helped me tremendously.

Her name is Jill Paisley and her office is located on Pomerado Rd. just across from Pomerado Hospital in Poway.

Pelvic rocks- cat/cow (yoga term) where you get on your hands and knees and gentley alternate flattening and arching (not TOO MUCH) your back. Also get an excercise ball an get on your knees and rest your chest and upper body over it. Also, there are people who specialize in pregancy massage who may be able to help you as well as a good holisitic chiropractor. I don't know where you live, but Epic Chiropractic on Crenshaw and 184th is amazing-AND they have a massuse. I am a birth doula and I swear by the ball and the pelvic rocks not only for pregancy back pain, but for a variety of things in labor. C

Massage can be a wonderful relief to the back pain you are having. There are also a number of excersizes, rocking, and stretches that can help. Massage therapy aids by bringing circulation to the tight muscles, thus releasing toxins and build up that becomes locked in the tight muscle. The tighness and cramping are usually do to the increase of progesterone which softens the ligaments and discs in a the back. The lower back support the upper body, and with less strength here, extreme pain isn't uncommon.
I am a licensed massage therapist and specialize in deep tissue and prenatal massage. I have a women's home massage business and I think I could help ease the pain.
I'd love to send you some info on massage! Let me know if you're interested!

A.

wow that sounds terrible! I know that at the end of my pregancies I ended up sleeping on the couch a lot because of terrible hip pain, but this is definately worse!! Are you sure thats it actually pregancy related? 5 week old fetus is hardly enough to be painful... maybe there is a nerve or something being pinched? I'd talk to a specialist.