Among all the other things that are pregnant mum has to learn, she has to become a Sherlock Holmes if she is to protect herself from back pain and leg pain (sciatica). She has to listen to her back and determine the posture of greatest comfort.
As your baby grows in size, the weight of your bump pulls your lower spine forwards and with it, rolls the pelvis forward. This increases the arch in your lower back (waist level) and to compensate for this, your thoracic spine (rib level) arches forwards and the arching (curve) of your neck may increase, as well. Especially in later pregnancy as your hormones relax your ligaments, your spine becomes more of an “S” shape. The joints and discs become strained and supporting muscles ache and fatigue and the nerves as the leave the spine may become bruised and irritated so causing back and leg pain.
You probably already start to think of your abdomen as a balloon!! So it is, with muscles in the front working with muscles under your uterus in the pelvis and muscles in front of the spine and behind the spine, capped off by the diaphragm. If this continuous consortium of muscles are kept fit by exercise then your posture will be optimised and fatigue reduced by more even load sharing throughout all the structures. So exercise is a vital friend.
Whilst the exercises are simple there is a need for some fine-tuning especially where the pain spreads down the leg.
Question: Is the back or leg pain worse when you lean forwards or when you lean backwards?
Why well if your pain is eased by leaning forwards (lumbar flexion) then you need to roll your pelvis backwards and flatten your lower back (lumbar spine), stand up tall and thus bringing your thoracic spine and neck to a vertical line. In this case trying standing against a wall and flattening the back by “tightening the tum and squeezing the bum”.
In those cases where leaning backwards (lumbar extension) causes sustained relief (not just momentary), then you may have a disc bulge or minor shift of vertebrae which improves in this position by levering on the small joints in the back. In this case whilst you should follow the strengthening drills above to optimize your overall the alignment and strength of your spine, you can add periods of arching your back in to your exercise regimen.
Question: Are your symptoms worsening? If so then you must see a specialist.
