Hello all! Welcome to today's video! Today we are going to talk about low back pain in
pregnancy, did you know that almost 67% of women experience low back pain when they are
pregnant? I, myself, have 2 daughters and I have experienced low back pain when I was
pregnant, so I completely resonate with you if you are one of them who experiences low
back pain at this point. While there may be many causes of back pain the most common cause
is the change in your posture and the resulting tightness that may happen in your muscles
and ligaments due to the increasing size of your belly, and your uterus. So, in today's
video I'm going to teach you simple yet effective exercises and the stabilization method so
that you can deal with low back pain during pregnancy, so you can make sure that pregnancy
is a beautiful experience, not a painful one! If you would like to learn more about pregnancy
and any pelvic related diagnosis and how to expedite your recovery I would like you to
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My name is Dr. Amruta Inamdar, I am a pelvic floor rehabilitation specialist that means
a physical therapist specializing in pelvic floor dysfunction, today I have seen thousands
of patients with various pelvic floor diagnosis, and back pain during pregnancy is one of them.
If at this point you are suffering from back pain or pelvic pain related to pregnancy,
you are struggling with when to start, how to start with your exercise program I want
you to stop this video, pause it right now, and try to comment in this video, that way
I can answer to each and every one of your comments, I'd like for you to tell me what
exactly you are struggling with and whether you have experienced back pain related to
pregnancy and how you have helped yourself to deal with it. So, do you have pain related
to pregnancy which lingered even after? Answer with a simple yes or no. In my career as a
pelvic floor physical therapist I have seen several women suffer from low back pain related
to pregnancy which starts off during pregnancy and just lingers on even after, the American
Pregnancy Association, has noted that around 70% of women who are pregnant experience low
back pain during the pregnancy, many times, not doing exercises or doing incorrect exercises
is the common reason why you are suffering from low back pain, so let's begin learning
some good exercises for back pain. Before we begin our exercises just a quick reminder
and warning, because you are pregnant, if you have sudden onset of pain, unremitting
pain, or cramp like sensations associated with bleeding or spotting you are not supposed
to do any kind of exercise, just go and talk to your doctor, before you begin any kind
of exercise regimen, I would highly highly recommend that you see your OB-GYN, and get
clearance for exercise before you try any new exercise after your pregnancy has begun.
The first technique we are going to learn is how to stabilize your pelvis, now, when
you are pregnant there's a hormone called relaxen, that starts getting secreted in the
first and the second trimester and it shoots up in its level in the third trimester. What
basically is relaxen, it is a hormone that gets you ready for birth, it causes your joints
and ligaments, basically the joints, to get looser, so just look at the pelvis, just to
quickly understand, this is your uterus, which is going to grow in size as you get pregnant,
now the bones sit so close to the uterus and because of the growing uterus, this bone in
the center called the pubic symphisis, may get strained or it may start moving more than
its needed that's the whole reason why we need to stabilize the pelvis, now I'm going
to teach you exactly how to get it stabilized so that you can get an effective result. There
are many pelvic stabilizers in the market, my favorite is Serola, so I'm going to drop
a link in the description, check it out, you can chose to purchase whichever is best for
your budget, but you want to make sure that you make a good choice. Now, I do not have
a Serola with me, but I'm going to show you what you stabilize and where to stabilize,
so what you are going to do, is you are going to take the base of the belt, and you are
going to first flex your hip, right? When you flex your hip this is the level of which
yo are going to keep the base ring, let me show you, many times in the clinic I've seen
women trying to put the belt here and that absolutely doesn't work, so you have to remember
that the pubic bone that we just saw in the model is way down, so you have to stabilize
it at the level of your hips, so while this is there, your stabilizer has to be snug,
and the belt you are going to wear above it can be moderately snug. In the first exercise
we are going to talk about how to effectively mobilize the joints of your pelvis, when you
are in severe pain you want to be aware that the mobility the movement in your pelvis is
not hampered, the muscles if they are under stress, if they are too tight, it may affect
the mobility so that's why we are going to focus on the first mobility exercise, so you
are going to lie down on your back. You have to make sure that you do not get any dizziness
or any discomfort when you lie down, if you do get discomfort, you will make sure that
you do this exercise on a more reclined surface, or basically skip it. So you are going to
lie down on your back, and bending both your knees, now the first step is to try and feel
both of your hip bones, and you are going to try and make an anterior pelvic tilt, that
means you are going to try and arch your back and you are going to try and flatten your
back, let's try to do it 2 or 3 times more, now, arch your back, and flatten your back,
make sure that you feel like a nice mobility in your pelvis, specially in this area, one
more, arch, you see how there is a gap there, that means that's arched, now we are going
to press down gently, that's flattening it, now this is the first variation, now the next
step would be to raise the side of your pelvis up, almost like a dance move but in the lying
down position, okay? you are going to roll up with
the left, relax, up with the right, relax, when you do this movement you'll feel all
the joints of your pelvis moving beautifully, okay so, up with the left, up with the right,
this is your first exercise which will improve the mobility of your pelvis.
So, the second exercise we are going to learn is also in the lying down position, this exercise
is going to focus on more stability, more strength to your pelvis, so, we are going
to use the hip stabilizer muscle, that means your gluteal muscle, you are going to couple
your pelvic floor strengthening exercises or your kegel exercise with a bridge, so if
you want detailed instruction on how to do a kegel, please click on the link that has
been listed in the top of the screen, that way you get to see in detail how to do a Kegel,
I want you to pause the video right here, go watch, check that other video and then
come back, to this one. I'm going to assume here that you have looked at that video and
you know how to do a Kegel, so you are going to inhale, exhale, draw in your pelvic floor,
stabilize the deep core muscles here called transversus, and you are going to hold your
kegel to the best of your capacity, now the next step is to slowly raise your hips up
trying to feel with your glut muscle, hold, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and gently put it down, the
way to make sure that the glut muscle were used and no other muscle compensates for your
gluts, is by doing this trick, follow carefully, okay, so you are going to inhale, exhale,
recruit your pelvic floor, now when you try to raise your hips up, I want you to translate,
try to move your knees towards your feet, and gently push down your elbows, so let's
try that, you are holding your kegel, you are going to push up, hold 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and gently come down, make sure you feel it only in your gluts, no other muscle is allowed
to work during this exercise, except the pelvic floor, okay, let's do it one more time, inhale,
exhale, draw in the pelvic floor, stabilize the core, raise your hips up, while pushing
your elbows down, knees try to move towards your feet, feel your glut muscle stabilize,
hold 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, this also is a relieving position because your downward pressure because
of pregnancy is relieved when you raise your hips up.
Now in this next exercise we are going to go in the all fours position, that means on
your hands and knees, this is an extremely relieving position, so let's go in the hands
and knee position, like that, you want to make sure that your hands are aligned under
your shoulders, both hands, and you knee should be aligned under your hips, so you should
not go like this or like that, okay? Go exactly under your hips, make sure you're very equal
weight on both of your legs, alright, so now, when you are pregnant, you are basically living
in this position, because of the weight of the belly, so now, in this exercise we are
going to try and neutralize the spine, what does that mean? that means you are going to
draw in the belly okay, let's practice this, let's begin, try to draw in the belly, hold,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and drop, and one more, try to draw in the belly, hold 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and drop, now let's try incorporate a little kegel when you do this, same movement, do
you are going to inhale, do this with me, inhale, now exhale draw in the pelvic floor
so you should feel like a draw in on the pelvic floor and now simultaneously take the belly
in, and let go, let's practice this once more, okay, do this with me, inhale, let the belly
relax, exhale, draw in the belly, arch the back, slowly draw the baby up, that's the
easiest clue I use, draw the baby up, hold 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and relax.
So when you are pregnant, specially in the third trimester, towards the end of the pregnancy
because your belly growing there is kind of a compressive force that happens on the back
bone here, on the sacrum, so there are several ligaments that attach to the sacrum that they
are kind of you know, they are compressed, that is one of the main reasons why you have
back pain in pregnancy, in this stretch that we are going to learn, we are going to target
exactly that, so what I want you to do is, if you can do this, try this with me, face
your side and we are going to try and sit on folded knees make sure there's no pain
in your knees otherwise you can chose to keep a pillow underneath now, you are going to
open your legs out, as wide as you can go, alright, sit up tall, now I don't have a belly
right now, but you do, there's a belly here, right, so you have to make sure that you are
completely comfortable, now if you are in the first or the second trimester, you are
going to be able to do the exercise the way I'm going to show you right now, if you are
on the third trimester, you are going to stack up pillows so you don't have to unroll on
the floor completely, okay, so let's start, sit with your legs out, you are going to raise
both of your arms up, take a deep inhale as you exhale you are going to hip inch forward,
hip inch forward, try to let your hands slide down on the floor, make sure your hips are
back on the feet, and try and feel the stretch, inhale, do some belly breathing here, exhale,
do a gentle kegel, and let go, one more inhale, belly breathing, exhale, do a gentle kegel,
and let go, you are going to slowly walk up, and that's it.
There you go, you have the best 5 exercises that will help you relief your low back pain
during pregnancy, to make sure that your pregnancy is indeed a beautiful experience, and not
a painful one, feel free to reach out to me with any questions or comments about these
exercises as these videos are for you, please tune in for our next video that I will be
uploading next week, do not forget to subscribe to our channel that way you get notified,
about the latest videos and information that I'll be sending out, until then! Goodbye!