Hormone Increase In every pregnancy the mother will experience an increase in hormones. Some of these hormones affect the ligaments that support our joints. The hormones increase the laxity of these ligaments causing some instability at the joint. This in turn, may cause a bit of discomfort. This change, in a small number of cases, can affect the nerves and lead to symptoms of either sciatica or carpal tunnel syndrome. These conditions would be diagnosed by your doctor and treated accordingly.
It is important to remember that each pregnancy is different and everybody has different experiences. The information in this article demonstrates the physiological changes. The affects it has on people can vary greatly, from people who get very few problems, to the very rare occurrence of people having a lot of pain. If you ever are suffering with any discomfort then let your midwife know. They can then refer you to see the women’s health physiotherapist if a service is in place in your area.
Physiotherapy can provide assessments and specific treatment for each condition. However there are things that you can do yourself at home to help relief pain and discomfort or even try and prevent these problems from occurring.
Posture
As posture is affected greatly by pregnancy, education into good postures is a vital part of treatment. It is important to remember to try and maintain a good posture at all times. When sitting, sit in a well-supported chair; making sure your bottom is right at the back. In some cases, people find Lumbar Rolls (back cushion) can help maintain this good sitting posture. During your normal everyday activities a good posture needs to be kept, so avoid stooping or bending straight...More
As we people know, pregnancy can be a wonderful time in a woman’s life. At the same time, it can also be a very testing time.
ome women can often develop feelings of discomfort or pain during pregnancy due to the huge amount of changes happening in the body. The first big
change that occurs is thepostural alignment, or in other words, the way you position yourself.
As the baby grows, the uterus becomes heavy and to compensate this, the hips tend to rotate forwards. This may mean an increased curve in the lower part of the back. The body then compensates again at the top of the back, where it starts to stick out more. This is called a kyphosis. The general way we would describe this posture, is as a sway back. This change in posture can sometimes cause back pain due to the added pressure on the spine and the strain on the ligaments of the spine.
With this change in posture, the body naturally compensates through the use of the muscles. With this, there can however, develop what we call a muscle imbalance. This is where half of the muscles are working too hard and half of the muscles are switched off. Muscles working too hard can become very tight and cause discomfort when stretched. The opposite muscles that become weak can cause slight instability at joints and make general movements feel like hard work. A big muscle that becomes weak is the pelvic floor. If this is weak then it may lead to some form of incontinence. It is therefore important to begin your pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy.
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