#28: How to avoid back pain and sciatica flare up while taking care of your little one
Considering that about 70% of new mums suffer from back pain after giving birth, we accept it as a normal postpartum condition.
We expect it and are not very surprised when it hits us.
But that pain can make our life miserable.
Taking care of a newborn and then a growing baby is a physical and emotional challenge itself. Trying to do it while suffering from back pain makes everything way harder, both physically and mentally.
The worst part is that research shows that about 40% of mums still suffer from back pain 12 years after giving birth[1].
But it doesn’t have to be like that.
Sometimes we just enjoy the sunshine when Freya doesn’t want to walk.
I put on 26 kg in my pregnancy. My belly was so huge that people were asking if I was expecting twins. I wasn’t.
In the first trimester I stopped intense exercises as I was spotting every time I trained and it freaked me out. It is said to be totally harmless but after two miscarriages I was scared. During my 20 weeks scan I was diagnosed with placenta previa. Because of my age and history of miscarriages I wasn’t even allowed to do pelvic floor exercises or empty the dishwasher. It only lasted 5 weeks but it was the longest 5 weeks of my life.
Despite all that I didn’t suffer from any back pain at all.
It wasn’t only luck though. Except for those 5 weeks in the second trimester I did gentle exercises and stretches almost every single day until Freya was born. After a short break I started my postnatal abdominal rehab 10 days after my emergency c-section (as recommended by my midwife) with just one exercise done in bed. I still haven’t had any serious back pain.
How?
I exercise every single evening. I don’t do much, but I do it consistently.
In the first weeks I focused on my postnatal abdominal exercises only. Then I worked on strengthening and stretching my hip muscles, back and neck. Today I continue with these exercises and adjust them depending on what my body needs each day.
Taking care of the baby isn’t easy on the body. We’re lifting, squatting, bending, nursing, carrying all the time. This is very challenging for the body that is still recovering from the birth.
When I was nursing it was my upper back and neck that needed a lot of attention.
Today, as Freya is very clingy and I have to carry her a lot, I work more often on my hips and lower back. I actually can “feel” that my back needs more work these days. I am not in pain but I can feel that my right QL muscle (lower back) is close to getting into spasm.
Other days I feel the discomfort radiating from my hip to my hamstring muscle (these days it is all on my right side, while before having a baby, it was the left one that caused me more trouble), which can turn into a piriformis syndrome. It all can lead to sciatica pain which isn’t fun at all.
There is one serious back pain cause that I need to mention here: pelvic floor muscle trauma. If you suffer from sever lower back pain and you know that you needed a lot of stitches after natural delivery (I ended up with an emergency c-section so I cannot relate) you need to see a specialist. Your GP may tell you there is nothing to worry about but pelvic floor trauma is a severe condition that needs special treatment. Birth trauma itself (when your birth expectations are different from what actually happened), may be a root cause for your lower back pain as well. I will cover this subject in one of my next blog posts. Sometimes you have to fight for your wellbeing, and it is sad. But the good news that there is someone out there that can help you. Sometimes you need more than one therapist and that is also ok.
There are three simple things you can do to avoid any back pain while nursing and carrying your growing little one:
1) Move mindfully
Walking with untrained old dog who eats everything so has to be on the lead a lot, and a toddler who is very clingy is a physical and mental challenge sometimes.
When I was 8 months pregnant I joined one of Dave’s physio session. It is one of the things I love doing as I always learn something new.
While being there I dropped a pen and needed to pick it up from the floor. With my huge belly I squatted to reach to the floor and Dave’s physio used me as an example on how to pick things off the floor. It is brilliant as I think every mum can still remember lifting things off the floor with a massive belly. Bend your knees and keep your back straight. You don’t even have to drop your head down, just look down only with your eyes (it sounds simple but actually we all need more eye exercises as well. Yup, I know it is mad but our lifestyle isn’t really helping us to move in a healthy way at all).
Secondly it is a good idea to keep on checking your pelvis position. During pregnancy our pelvis tilts forward and it is easy to continue moving with anterior pelvis tilt after giving birth as well. This is one of the most common back pain causes, not only among new mums but the whole population.
The biggest challenge for me right now is carrying Freya around. She is so clingy, and she doesn’t want to go to her buggy, backpack or even her Bobby car. No matter how hard I try (and I am always very aware of my alignment when she is in my arms) there is always a gentle hip and spine tilt. This is why I currently “feel” my back and hip muscles and I am sure that if I didn’t exercise every day I would be in pain now.
You may have heard that to get rid of the pain we have to get rid of the root cause of the pain. Unfortunately, you cannot get rid of your child. And no matter how hard we try to avoid certain moves we cannot fully escape it. Daily, specific, mindful exercises (just 5 minutes a day) will help you stay pain-free.
2) Self-massage and massage
For me self-massage is a part of my evening routine. I don’t have a chance to get a good massage every time I need it but I can extend the time between my massage sessions by doing self-massage.
Here in Tirol it isn’t so easy to find a good therapist who has time for me whenever I need it. It is a different system here. But whenever we go back to England I book at least two 2h sessions with my brilliant therapist there. It makes such a difference. When I went to see Mary (my therapist) in November (14 months after giving birth) my body was a mess. My arms, neck, back, belly, bum, feet (this time surprisingly my legs were ok, while normally they need the most attention) needed a lot of work. She sorted me out for a few months within just four hours. If you get a chance to get a deep tissue massage, or maybe a special postnatal massage, please take it. There is nothing else that works so well.
In many Asian cultures massage is a daily practice. When I went to Thailand with my best friend, we had a massage every second day. I have never felt so free and light before. The difference it makes for both physical and mental wellbeing is huge. It is a shame that in our culture we don’t appreciate it as much. I dare to say it is one of the reasons we feel stuck and stressed more often.
I know that a good massage is pricy and not many mums can afford regular sessions. But maybe it could be a present idea, or there is something else you could do less of (I love going out for a coffee) so you could save these money out for a massage? Have a think about it. A good massage is worth every penny.
Otherwise get a roller and a massage ball and go on the floor every evening for self-massage. That will keep you pain free and will help you release lots of tension from your body. Unfortunately, here you will have to do the work yourself (rather than just lay down on the massage bed 😊)
3) Exercise
Strength and flexibility. We absolutely need both. There are many exercises that will work wonders but these cannot be just random exercises. Going to a high energy fitness class will not help. It is actually the worst thing you can do. If you have time and energy, join local pilates classes (best would be to join postnatal classes, not only yoga, personally I think pilates is better after giving birth). Otherwise, you can train at home as long as you can perform your exercises well.
In the video below I will show you my favourite three exercise that will help you avoid sciatica and lower back pain while taking care of your little one.
If you enjoyed the video and are looking for more short workouts for tired mums please join my private “5-min workouts for tired mums” FB group. It is a free group where I post daily 5-min workout videos. They are perfect for any new mum who would like to start exercising but struggles to find time and energy. See you there!
With Love,
Karo
[1] https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12891-017-1760-5