What causes low back pain, sciatica and groin pain during pregnancy?

During pregnancy many women suffer from low back pain, buttock pain, sciatica, leg pain, groin pain and abdominal pain. While this pain generally originates from a dysfunction in the mechanics of the low back and pelvis as well as postural changes, which we, as your local chiropractors at Evolving Chiropractic are trained to diagnose and correct, there are a number of factors which contribute to this dysfunction during pregnancy.

This dysfunction of the lower back and pelvis may be caused by a number of issues:

Weight gain: Most women will gain weight through their pregnancy. This is highly dependent on your BMI (Body Mass Index) prior to becoming pregnant, however, most women will gain 11.5kg – 16kg’s during pregnancy. The spine and pelvis need to support this extra weight and it often leads to postural changes as well as shifting your body’s centre of gravity forward. This can lead to postural fatigue and strain of the muscles supporting your low back, mid back and pelvis.

Hormone changes: During pregnancy, your body makes a hormone called relaxin that allows ligaments in the pelvic area to relax and the joints to become looser in preparation for labour. Relaxin can also cause the ligaments that support the spine, pelvis and sacro-iliac joints to loosen, leading to instability. These changes to the ligaments and instability may lead to further postural strain, muscle fatigue and pain.

Muscle separation: As the uterus expands during pregnancy and your belly gets bigger, two parallel sheets of muscle, called the rectus abdominis muscles, which run from the bottom of your rib cage down to your pubic bone, may separate along the muscles centre seam (in line with your belly button). As these 2 muscles separate, you may not be able to contract your abdominal muscles effectively enough to maintain correct posture and again, this may lead to postural strain, muscle fatigue and pain.

Other issues that cause pain during pregnancy may include:

Thoracic or mid-back pain: Increases in breast size in addition to the postural changes and forward centre of gravity associated with weight gain may cause mid-back or thoracic pain and stiffness. Increasing the flexibility and maintaining the mobility of the thoracic spine with chiropractic adjustments may alleviate an increase in mid-back or thoracic pain due to an increase in breast size.

Round ligament pain: Round ligament pain is a sharp pain or jabbing feeling often felt in the lower belly or groin area on one or both sides. Round ligament pain is most often felt during the second trimester of pregnancy. The round ligament attaches from the front of your uterus down to your groin. As your baby and uterus grows, the round ligament becomes stretched, which makes it more likely to get strained, causing pain. Sometimes sudden movements during exercise, rolling in bed, sneezing, coughing and laughing can cause sharp, stabbing pain. Soft tissue therapy or massage of the round ligaments and abdominal muscles may reduce the symptoms of sharp abdominal and groin pain during pregnancy.

Heartburn and shortness of breath: Heartburn and shortness of breath during pregnancy are common and can be caused by tightness of the diaphragm, a muscle that sits beneath your lungs and assists with pulling air into our lungs and then pushing the air out. The esophagus passes through the diaphragm before it enters the stomach and if the diaphragm gets too tight, it can cause heartburn as well as an inability for you to breath as effectively as possible. The added weight of growing breasts during pregnancy as well as decreased space in the abdominal cavity due to your growing baby may cause the diaphragm to overwork during breathing and become tight. Soft tissue therapy or massage of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles may reduce the symptoms of heartburn during pregnancy and decrease shortness of breath.

 At Evolving Chiropractic, our Chiropractors assist many pregnant women suffering with pain through pregnancy in Mount Evelyn, Montrose, Lilydale, Mooroolbark, Bayswater, Seville, Wandin and the surrounding Yarra Ranges. If you would like to dicuss whether we can help you, please call us on 9736 3322 or email us at admin@evolvingchiropractic.com.au.

 In our next blog we will discuss what you can do about pain during pregnancy.