{"id":335,"date":"2018-02-15T21:23:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T21:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drkarenhudes.ca\/?p=335"},"modified":"2018-02-15T21:23:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T21:23:09","slug":"painful-conditions-in-pregnant-and-new-moms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drkarenhudes.ca\/index.php\/2018\/02\/15\/painful-conditions-in-pregnant-and-new-moms\/","title":{"rendered":"Painful conditions in Pregnant and New Moms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Painful conditions in pregnant and new moms <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Some of the things they don\u2019t tell you when you are trying to get pregnant: babies can poop all the way up their back and get their necks dirty (aka: a pooplosion), hormone changes after birth can give you night sweats that soak your pyjamas and sheets, and pregnancy can cause all sorts of fun painful conditions \u2013 some of which may not disappear after birth. Oh ya, and even if they do, carrying baby, baby stuff, car seats and breast feeding can cause all sorts of other painful conditions.<\/p>\n

Fab right?<\/p>\n

I mean all you wanted to do was have this picture perfect pregnancy and teeny adorable little person to marvel at right? Now this pain crap is getting it the way.\u00a0 Ok, so you go to the family doctor and (most of the time) they tell you to wait it out and it will go away.\u00a0 But it doesn\u2019t. Or it\u2019s getting in the way of your marvelling time.\u00a0 I\u2019m writing this to tell you there is hope and lots you can do.\u00a0 I\u2019ll let you in on a secret \u2013 pain isn\u2019t normal. It is your body trying to tell you something is wrong and you need to do something about it.\u00a0 So in this post I will go over some common painful conditions of pregnancy, give you a couple tips you can do at home to help yourself and outline other things that you can go seek help for.<\/p>\n

There is always something you can do. That is tip one. Ok? Lets go\u2026<\/p>\n

Lower Back Pain<\/u><\/p>\n

This can happen during pre and post partum periods and can be for a host of reasons \u2013 from sacroiliac joints that are too mobile because of the increased hormone Relaxin in your body during pregnancy, to round ligament pain, and muscle spasms, lower back pain is probably the most common painful complaint during pregnancy and post partum periods. Luckily there is lots you can do but what you do depends on your diagnosis. If you know that your sacroiliac joints are too mobile \u2013 this one happened to me during pregnancy to the point I had trouble rolling over in bed and getting up (not a great place to be as a chiropractor treating patients) \u2013 one thing you can do is seek out a pregnancy support belt.\u00a0 This one saved me during pregnancy but don\u2019t rush out and buy one unless you are sure this is your diagnosis.\u00a0 One thing I try on patients in the office before getting them a belt is belly taping with kinesiotape.\u00a0 Kinesiotape is that stuff you see on the summer Olympic athletes (think beach volley ball) for injuries \u2013 it is a great tool for tons of stuff and can help support pregnant bellies and backs too.\u00a0 In general, lower back pain of pregnancy is fairly easy to treat but it is important to find a practitioner who has experience and is comfortable treating pregnant mamas.\u00a0 Personally in my practice I do lots of deep tissue release, muscle work and possibly chiropractic adjustments to sort these problems out in both pre and post partum periods. Lots of research has been done to show that chiropractic care is one of the most effective forms of treatment for lower back pain in general as well as lower back pain in the pre and post natal periods.<\/p>\n

Tailbone Pain<\/u><\/p>\n

This can happen during pregnancy and is likely due to ligament strain on the coccyx (or tailbone) from the extra weight being carried by Mom. Ok, usually family docs say they don\u2019t know why this occurs and it will go away after birth.\u00a0 Sometimes tailbone pain starts after or during birth \u2013 this is likely due to strain on the ligaments attaching the tailbone to the base of the spine from the baby moving or even pushing.\u00a0 Again the MDs generally say it will go away on its own. Sometimes it does.\u00a0 But sometimes it doesn\u2019t. I have heard of patients who have had this for years after the birth of the baby and some who even go for cortisone injections in the region years later because they are so desperate to find a solution. Tailbone pain is fairly easy to treat for a manual practitioner who has experience with it \u2013 suffice it to say we have to get the ligaments to relax which can be done with some specific release techniques.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t always the most comfortable during treatment but are really effective.\u00a0 It really breaks my heart that people live with this one for years without knowing what to do. If you suffer with this one please don\u2019t leave it \u2013 the longer you do the longer it will take to treat and get it to go away. Something you can do in the meantime (while dialing the phone and calling to make an appointment with someone to get yourself treated) is to buy a donut shaped pillow (also called an invalid ring or hemorrhoid pillow) \u2013 as you can imagine sitting with this condition is not a fun thing.\u00a0 The donut pillow can relieve some of the pressure with sitting.\u00a0 I have seen them online for about $25.<\/p>\n

Upper back pain during pregnancy or breast feeding<\/u><\/p>\n

Have you ever had back pain in your upper back sort of to one side right near your shoulder blade? Do you feel like you need to just have someone push on that spot or lean against the corner of a door frame to relieve the pain?\u00a0 Ya so that is rib pain. Yes you have ribs up there.\u00a0 The rib cage goes from your collar bone all the way to where you can feel them near your stomach and wrap from front to back.\u00a0 When you breathe in your ribs are supposed to swing gently up, and when you breathe out they swing gently down a bit \u2013 like a bucket handle.\u00a0 During pregnancy, and even more commonly during breast feeding or even just with carrying the new baby (generally with one hand), the ribs can get stuck and stop doing this. That causes inflammation and angry muscles.\u00a0 You can even get pain travelling around to the front of your chest or down your arm due to this pain.\u00a0 Some people end up in the ER because the pain can be so intense that they think they are having a heart attack. This one is super painful but also easy to treat with muscle work and chiropractic adjustments.\u00a0 I love helping people with this one because I suffer from it myself so I know how it feels and what to do to get it to stop. Again I will advise you to treat it sooner than later because the longer you leave it the harder it is to get the problem solved (but it is still solvable I swear).\u00a0 A tip, especially if you are having trouble sleeping because of this pain is to do what I call the towel trick.\u00a0 Take a small hand towel and roll it up like a skinny snake lengthwise.\u00a0 Place this on the floor or bed and lay on it placing it between your spine and your shoulder blade on the side of pain.\u00a0 Only lay on it for up to 5 minutes and do not fall asleep on it as it will irritate your back further! This should settle your muscles down a little bit but won\u2019t totally solve the problem.\u00a0 It should get you sleeping though.<\/p>\n

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I hope these tips helped \u2013 Please do seek treatment if you have a painful condition \u2013 like I said it is you body telling you that something is up and needs attention \u2013 but not to fear there is always hope!<\/p>\n

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This text has been posted at TorontoNewMom.com<\/a> please check out their blog its great!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Painful conditions in pregnant and new moms Some of the things they don\u2019t tell you when you are trying to get pregnant: babies can poop all the way up their back and get their necks dirty (aka: a pooplosion), hormone changes after birth can give you night sweats that soak your pyjamas and sheets, and … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Painful conditions in Pregnant and New Moms”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPainful conditions in Pregnant and New Moms - Dr. Karen Hudes at Continuum Wellness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/drkarenhudes.ca\/index.php\/2018\/02\/15\/painful-conditions-in-pregnant-and-new-moms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Painful conditions in Pregnant and New Moms - 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