Back pain after pregnancy?Here’s 1 thing you absolutely can’t ignore

Back pain after pregnancy can feel “normal” if you’ve had epidural or a c-section like me. Even if you haven’t had surgery, you probably had complications like a tear in the pelvic floor that make it a bit harder to recover. On top of that you have a little angel to look after.So what do you do? You soldier on. Because we have to look after this little being who’s completely dependent on us. You have no time to do anything else let alone deal with back pain after pregnancy. But it keeps nagging at you. Whether you’re sitting down feeding the baby or lowering her into the cot. It’s making it difficult to look after your family. And before you know it, it’s weeks or even months and it’s become worse. So if you can relate to this, then you really cannot ignore what I’m about to say. Because there’s not much attention given to this if you’ve suffered from back pain after pregnancy.

There’s not much information out there for women post pregnancy, do you start with exercises straight away? How much are you supposed to eat now that the baby is out? Are you still suposed to “eat for two” because you’re breast feeding? So many questions and not enough answers. So what happens? We get stressed!

Stress can directly affect your recovery from pain. I had post natal anxiety issues that I couldn’t diagnose for myself despite being a health professional. And that made everything that much harder. Even my recovery from the caesarian. Because stress releases hormones, that affect recovery. After pregnancy our hormones can take nearly 2 years to normalize especially if you’re breast feeding. And the stress hormones can throw everything out of balance. Which can make recovery from back pain after pregnancy more difficult.

But if you’re a new mom or even if you’re doing it again, I get it. You’re drinking a whole jug of coffee just to keep up with your little one’s feeding schedule. But coffee can interrupt your deep sleep which will then affect your healing process. If you’re not sleeping properly then you’re going to be stressed again and there starts the vicious cycle. Actually I’ve written a whole article about how certain foods can also affect our recovery from chronic pain. Here I just want to point out that stress can have a major impact on your recovery from back pain after pregnancy. So you need to do whatever you can to eliminate stress!

You start slow. One baby step (no pun intended) at a time. You need to find the right health professionals who can help you on your journey to recovery from back pain after pregnancy. A few of you may see a physio at the hospital but if you’re still suffering from back pain , it’s a good idea to get yourself assessed by a physio once you’re out of the hospital. They can show you specific exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor and core muscles. Another person that can help you is a health coach who can guide you with midnfulness activities to manage your stress. Because stress can wreck havoc in the female body. As a Physio who’s done a lot research on the effects of mindset and nutrition on pain, I definitely address these issues with my patients who’ve suffered back pain after pregnancy. So my advice to you is please don’t wait for the pain to become worse. It’s ok to ask for help.