Postpartum low back pain is a relatively common phenomenon, with an incidence of about 25% to 40%. We often encounter breastfeeding mothers with postpartum back pain in outpatient clinics, and the reasons for their occurrence may be related to the following factors.
Physiological calcium deficiency
After pregnancy: Due to the influence of hormones in the body of the mother-to-be during pregnancy, all systems of the body will undergo certain changes, calcium is involved in bone metabolism, the regular diet of pregnant women can no longer meet the calcium needs of both the mother and the baby, resulting in calcium deficiency in pregnant women. Some mothers-to-be become very painful in the middle and late stages of pregnancy, and have difficulty getting up every time.
After delivery: the human body is in a relatively weak state, and mothers after delivery consume a lot of energy on the one hand, and many mothers are insisting on breastfeeding on the other hand, calcium loss is also very serious, and calcium deficiency is likely to cause back pain. Calcium deficiency during pregnancy fails to be replenished in time, the mother after delivery will consume a lot of calcium, and if she insists on breastfeeding again, the calcium loss will be aggravated, and calcium deficiency can cause back pain.
Preventive measures.
Eat a balanced and reasonable diet before delivery. Avoid excessive weight gain that increases the burden on the waist and causes damage to the lumbar muscles and ligaments, and supplement a certain amount of calcium tablets in the middle and late pregnancy.
Strong nutrition in the postnatal period. The baby that relies on the mother to breastfeed, the nutrition needed for growth and development comes from the mother’s milk, so the mother must ensure that her milk is sufficient and nutritious, so the diet must pay attention to nutrition in general, especially protein, lumbar muscle strain and pain.
Avoid frequent bending, prolonged standing and external squatting. Avoid lifting too heavy or too high objects, ensure sufficient sleep and rest throughout the puerperium, do not participate in heavy physical labor too early, and do not walk long distances or run.
Reasonable placement of baby’s common items. Prepare a special table for baby’s supplies. The height of the table should be appropriate, preferably with a number of different functions of the drawer, the often used feeding utensils, diapers, diapers, talcum powder, buttocks oil and other commonly used items placed inside, so that the mother does not have to bend down to reach out to get. This will reduce back pain caused by lumbar muscle strain, lumbar cold, and ligament strain caused by repeatedly bending over to get things.
Improper posture
When a mother is breastfeeding her child, she likes to look down and watch the child sucking milk. Due to the long duration of each feeding and the number of times per day, it is easy for blood to pool, which can easily induce back pain.
Preventive measures.
Correct your bad posture and habits. Avoid nursing with your head down for a long time. During the process of breastfeeding your baby, you can intermittently do the action of tilting your head back and wrapping your neck around the ring; after breastfeeding, you can do the action of wrapping your waist around the ring in bed, stretching your limbs and letting your body relax. Don’t get used to sleeping and nursing on one side. When holding your baby, find a comfortable position or sit or lie or stand, hold your baby on your chest or let your baby sleep beside you, and exchange positions often to relieve fatigue.
Lack of exercise
Less activity after childbirth, always lying or sitting in bed to recuperate; coupled with the increase in weight, the increase in abdominal fat, increasing the load on the lumbar muscles, resulting in lumbar muscle strain and lumbago.
Preventive measures.
Strengthen lumbar exercise. From 2 weeks after delivery, do exercises to strengthen the lumbar muscles and abdominal muscles under the guidance of a health care practitioner to enhance the stability of the lumbar spine, such as doing sit-ups. Move your waist frequently to stretch your lumbar muscles. If you feel lumbar discomfort, you can massage, apply hot compresses to the painful area or take a hot bath to promote blood circulation and improve lumbar discomfort.
Low back pain after cesarean section
Currently, more pregnant mothers choose to deliver by cesarean section due to fear of pain. The anesthesia during cesarean section is epidural anesthesia, which requires puncture in the lumbar region during anesthesia, and this puncture will cause certain damage to the muscles and ligaments of the lumbar back, triggering postpartum lumbago, and very few patients may suffer from nerve root injury and epidural cavity bleeding.
Preventive measures.
Pay attention to rest. Pay attention to the warmth of the head and back, which can heal itself in about 3 months.
It is recommended to go to the hospital for postpartum examination in order to clarify the cause for symptomatic treatment.