2009/08/07

Easy Exercises To Manage PostPartum Back Pain

It is not uncommon to experience postpartum back pain. Some women who sailed through pregnancy without any back pain can be disappointed to be plagued with postpartum back pain. Due to an instant weight loss of about 10-12 pounds, your center of gravity, which has shifted during pregnancy, experiences a sudden shift back again. This will affect posture and can result in postpartum back pain.

Unfortunately, your pregnant body does not return to its pre-pregnancy state overnight. It takes hard work to get back to good physical condition, but returning to your normal weight and restoring the strength of the abdominal, pelvic floor and back muscles will be key to managing postpartum back pain.

It is generally recommended that the mother should wait for at least six weeks to engage in exercise after delivery of the child. Strenuous exercise, such as jogging or heavy weight lifting should be avoided in the early stages of postpartum. However, it is safe to engage in alternatives such as walking, isometric and gentle stretching exercises. These can help you to get back into shape, facilitate the weight loss process, help manage postpartum back pain and prepare you for returning to your normal activity level.

For a start, you can try out a walking program at a suitable pace. For instance, you can walk around your neighbourhood at a comfortable pace for about twenty minutes each day. Then, you can increase your pace and distance gradually once you regained your endurance. Walking helps you tone your muscles, build endurance and burn some of the materal fat stores that developed during pregnancy in order to help you lose excess weight. These combined effects will help combat port-partum back pain.

Besides this, you can also use isometric exercises to build muscle strength without putting stress on the joints. The major muscle groups to focus on are the abdominals, buttocks, inner thighs, front thighs and upper back. For instance, when performing the exercise on your upper back, you should squeeze your shoulder blades together and press your chest forward. You should hold each contraction for 5-7 seconds; repeat 5-10 repetitions, 3 times a day.

In addition, the stretching exercises that are recommended during your pregnancy are safe to resume gradually postpartum. If you try to stretch too quickly or too far, you may feel pain due to the instability of the pelvis and spine. Instead, you should slowly stretch to the point of a comfortable pulling sensation and hold the stretch for 15-20 seconds and repeat 3 times. It is important to regain normal flexibility in order to minimize stress on the joints of the spine and pelvis.

Performing the above exercise is definitely an effective and safe way to help you manage postpartum back pain and regain your body fitness as well!

If you wish to understand more about the effective ways to prevent pregnancy back pain or easy back pain relief methods, you can visit this informative site: Pregnancy Back Pain

Skyjoe. All rights reserved. This article may be freely distributed as long as it remains unaltered inclusive of the active links and the copyright notice. No alteration is allowed without express written permission from the author.

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