Low back pain in pregnancy and the benefits of osteopathy
Pregnancy produces so many changes throughout a woman’s body that you wouldn’t expect, and back pain is one of them. Did you know that just under half of all pregnant women will develop significant lower back pain? Symptoms can arise in the post natal period or in the later part of the pregnancy, but onset is just as common during the first trimester so it’s not necessarily related to the weight of the baby bump.
Jennifer Caudle, assistant professor of family medicine at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, said: “Women who’ve recently given birth are rarely studied beyond screening for postpartum depression and delivery complications, even though it’s well documented that low back pain is a common issue that hinders their quality of life during an already stressful time.”
Unsurprisingly women rated tiredness as their most common post natal health concern, followed by back aches. As anyone who has suffered back pain knows, if not taken care of in the right way it can be debilitating. When you are caring for a newborn which involves constant lifting, carrying and holding, you are forced to carry on regardless, so researchers in Germany set out to see if manual therapies are a suitable intervention.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, found that osteopathic treatment every two weeks over an eight week period produced a 73% decrease in pain. Pregnant women experiencing lower back pain should be encouraged by this highly successful news and seek out a local osteopath for treatment. The control group in the study were not permitted to visit therapists or take pain killers, thus reported a mere 7% pain decrease over the eight week trial period. It showed that if action is not taken, then the pain will persist.
Osteopathy treatment is low risk. There are no medications involved so pregnant women or breastfeeding mums don’t need to worry about passing drugs onto their child. Although the word osteopathy suggests bone therapy, the majority of treatments are manipulations of the soft tissues, ligaments, and fascia – the connective tissue binding all parts of the body together.
The osteopath will examine the patient thoroughly as everyone’s symptoms and body will vary, and apply manual techniques aligned to their needs. Osteopathy should not be confused with other manipulative techniques; it is recognised by the World Health Organisation as a scientifically proven complementary therapy.
