NB: This post has been updated.

Back pain – I’m going to go out on a limb and say that a majority of pregnant women would experience this at some point! With our bodies expanding weekly, it can take a huge toll. At 13 I was told by the Physio I had “Scheuermann’s Disease’, which basically just meant a bit of a sway back that lead to pain around my period time. It mostly went away around 18 and although I suffer from tight neck and shoulders everyday, a combination of Myotherapy and a quick $20 massage does the trick to keep everything happy.

Becoming pregnant, I got a huge amount of lower back pain from early on. I suffered migraines from my neck and shoulders and had to start regularly attending masseuse appointments again, but the lower back pain didn’t ease at all. I was considering going to see a Chiropractor (without having really any clue about what they do), when a girl at my antenatal class told me she saw an Osteopath for hers, and it worked absolute wonders. Coincidently I saw a Facebook post on a sales page the following day for a girl experiencing back pain, and a lot of people also recommended local Osteos. I needed to find someone who worked with pregnant women and had some understanding of the specific pain and management, and also someone who would have some lovely comfy pregnancy cusions!

Update:

Whilst I was ‘diagnosed’ with pelvic instability, I’ve since found immense relief from all of my back pain with a Physio every few weeks, giving me a good strong massage through mainly my glutes, hips and lower back. From the very first session I had relief, unlike I had with an Osteo.

By the third session I voiced my opinion  about being skeptical on having pelvic instability – every pregnant woman has it to some degree, with the relaxant hormone loosening up our ligaments but unless you’ve had problems prior to pregnancy, and have no core or glute strength at all, it’s highly unlikely that your back pain is caused by proper pelvic instability that will cause all of this pain and require strengthening.

I can’t tell you how good my massages have made me feel, although painful to receive I can now tell when the muscles are starting to tighten again, and use a tennis ball against the wall and roll it around on the  muscles between appointments.

I would strongly advise having someone work on those muscles if you’re experiencing lower back pain during pregnancy, hopefully it works for you too!