Pregnancy back pain

[AudreyRose]

Hello ladies

I am 6w3d pregnant and I have had so many questions rushing through my head in response to every twinge and pain I have experienced. I have a question about back pain during pregnancy. I know that some back pain throughout all stages of pregnancy is normal due to the rapid changes taking place within one's body with the expanding uterus and hormones etc. but being that I'm so early on I tend to worry a lot about the back pain being abnormal.

We are currently moving house and I was packing some boxes today (not lifting anything, just bending down and shuffling full boxes with my foot) and I've just sat down for the evening and I've noticed my back is sore/throbbing, particularly in the lower part.

My concern is being able to identify the difference between normal back pain (due to over exertion, for example) and back pain that indicates an impending miscarriage.

I have read conflicting articles about the safety of over exertion/physical activity in pregnancy, particularly in the first trimester, and I'm concerned that doing say what I have been doing today can be harmful. (I can't recall if this sort of physical activity resulted in similar back pain pre-pregnancy).

Is it true that muscles and ligaments are 'relaxed' during pregnancy and that therefore they are more susceptible to injury/strain? If so, how can I tell the difference between that sort of back pain and something more ominous?

I would love to hear from anyone who has any advice on this.

Thank you

[moozle]

Hi :) What you are going through is totally normal! You are in the very early stages of pregnancy and you are exaggerating every little thing. Try to relax, you have a LONG way to go yet :laughing: What you are doing is not dangerous and shouldn't have caused you any more backpain that it would have if you were not pregnant. Your ligaments start relaxing towards the end of your pregnancy, then you need to be a bit more careful about bending over a lot and picking things up. Just keep good posture in your mind all the time and you should be 'right. If you need to be packing boxes and things, sit on a fit ball or a seat of some kind if your back is uncomfortable but my guess is that in a few days you'll be back to normal. Good luck!

[Catkin]

Hey there! I'm in almost exactly the same point you are and worrying about the exact same things.

I've just qualified as a swim teacher which let me quit my old job last week - which was a relief as I was picking up 20kg+ weights all day every day for it and was killing my back!

The only thing I think I would add is that I am hypermobile (so all of my ligaments are too long / stretchy already) and I've noticed at swimming in the last couple of weeks that my shoulders are popping out even easier than normal. My coach (who's done all sorts of training, runs a mums club and has looked into this sort of thing a fair bit) basically has me going really easy and not doing much that stresses my joints as pregnancy can, apparently, start having an effect on susceptible people early on.

All it means though, is that you have to be sensible about what you do, and not overstress yourself - which you ought to be doing anyway pregnant or not ;)

Good luck with the move - that and pregnancy too - how exciting!

[niel]

hi moozle (http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/member.php?u=52948),..
thanks for mice post and useful suggestion,.,.its nice one,..