PRENATAL

Pregnancy is the miracle of life. Unfortunately, that miracle does offer some unenviable side-effects in the form of low back pain, general soreness, and pelvic discomfort for the mother. (All of which, by the by, are frequently present during both prenatal carrying and postpartum delivery). An underutilized, sometimes all together missed, yet highly effective source for pain management, physical therapy offers several opportunities for pain relief, muscle strengthening, and postural rebalancing.

Here is a snap-shot of what happens to a woman’s body as she advances in her pregnancy:

1. As the baby grows, the mother gains weight (primarily in the stomach).

2. As the mother gains weight, she re-balances her posture to compensate for the added pressure placed on her body. There is also a lot of extra strain and weight placed on the pelvic floor (where the baby lives during pregnancy) as muscles are continuously stretched, pinched, and pulled unnaturally.

3. All this re-posturing and re-aligning takes its toll on the body—joints, tissues, muscles can’t perform at top level because they’ve shifted into irregular positions. 

4. As such, they’re weaker, more susceptible to stiffness, soreness. This tension is most commonly felt in the lower back, neck, shoulders and pelvic floor muscles. Exercises, coached along by a professional physical therapist can help target common ailments associated with prenatal pregnancy such as:

• Low Back Pain

• Fatigue

• Breast soreness

• Dizziness

• Leg cramps

• Shortness of breath

• Swelling

• Instability

Issues are addressed through -

• Through core stability exercises including hip, spine, and pelvic floor strengthening

• Support via belts, back braces, girdles

• Relaxation techniques

• Manual therapy

• Education on what to expect throughout the pregnancy as baby continues to grow and shift. *As well as that, PT’s can help make sure that both mom and baby stay healthy by guiding them on the correct way to perform exercises, the number of repetitions, frequency, and length of workouts; and by keeping them informed on what activities to avoid. *Also, PT’s can offer postural education for the future, once baby is born—e.g. how to properly lift, hold, and carry baby; how to change diapers without straining the body; how to correctly maneuver car seats, etc.

But physical therapy isn’t just about treating those immediate symptoms. PT’s can help soon-to-be mother’s prepare their bodies for the rigorous process of labor, as well. This is a proactive form of therapy. Exercises would focus on opening the pelvis, loosening the hips, and priming the body against the onslaught of fatigue and tension inherent when delivering a baby.

If you’re pregnant and struggling with acute pain in your neck, shoulders, lower back, or pelvic floor region, consult your physical therapist. Relief can come as quickly as that first appointment.

Postnatal Physical Therapy

Pregnancy and delivery are hard on the female body. And it doesn’t end after the baby is born, either. There is a common misconception that after delivery, the mother’s residual pain will be but a temporary condition—that her body will snap back to a state of pre-baby health immediately and effortlessly. But just think about it: the mother’s body has been stretched, pulled, and twisted at high-speed, high-intensity rates that can tear tissues, separate muscles, impact joints, and create pelvic pain. This is particularly magnified when women undergo episiotomies (a difficult, long delivery) or C-sections, which leave scar tissue.

• It’s not uncommon for women to experience incontinence after childbirth.

• It’s not uncommon for women to have joint pain after childbirth.

• After childbirth, it’s not uncommon for women to experience painful intercourse.

• It’s not uncommon for women to undergo a separation of their abdominal muscles, caused from the undue pressure placed on the stomach throughout pregnancy. (This is called diastasis recti.)

• And it is not uncommon for women to experience these (and other) types of pain or discomfort for longer than a year plus, after childbirth.

• It is also not uncommon for women to experience post-partum depression after childbirth.

These problems, if left unresolved, can lead to chronic lower back pain, neck, shoulder and hip problems, and even urinary and bowel dysfunction, including urgency, frequency, and constipation.

Physical therapists can help manage, treat, and even prevent these, and other, ailments. With their knowledge and expertise, they’ll use myriad treatment options available to address these concerns, from soft tissue mobilization, myofascial release, deep tissue massage, muscle energy techniques, and biomechanics, through to postural education, guided exercises, and module implementation.

Physical therapists can help get mom back into exercise—and slowly, healthily increase her activity levels, again. They’ll use exercises targeted to incorporate mother-baby interaction while also addressing proper body mechanics, from postural education while nursing, to ergonomic awareness when holding and lifting the body, transporting car seats, and even changing diapers. They’ll use hands-on techniques to stretch, balance, and realign sore muscles, nerves and tissues (including scar-tissues). They’ll introduce individualized exercises to help strengthen, tighten, and restore muscles.

*Post-Partum Depression

Pregnancy and delivery can affect not only a woman’s physical health but her emotional and mental well-being, too. Recent studies have shown that physical therapy, while not enough to combat PPD alone, can greatly help reduce and diminish the effects associated therein. Exercise has natural mood-fighting agents which release happy chemicals in the brain (think: dopamine, endorphins); as well as that, exercises releases hormones to combat stress and anxiety while simultaneously increasing energy, confidence, and a state of general good feeling.

If you’ve recently given birth to a baby, if you want to get your body back to its peak pre-pregnancy shape, if you want to stop feeling sore and uncomfortable and like your body isn’t yours anymore, if you want to get back to you, please consider physical therapy as part of your post-delivery treatment plan. We are here to help you live life fully.