Caring Medical
& Rehabilitation Services
715 Lake Street, Suite 600
Oak Park, Illinois 60301
708.848.7789 Phone
708.848.7763 Fax

Natural Medicine Approach to Low Back Pain in Pregnancy

If you are or have been pregnant you are aware of the many changes your body will go through in a nine-month period. While some are great and exciting, many are uncomfortable, irritating and even painful. It's been estimated that close to 75% of pregnant women experience low back pain during pregnancy. Since medication is not an option for pregnant women (which we believe is a good thing since most pain medications inhibit healing), there is little traditional medicine can do outside of recommending exercise, position changes and ease in movement. Thankfully there is a natural medicine approach to lower back pain during pregnancy and Caring Medical offers this approach.

What Causes Low Back Pain in Pregnancy?

Before we talk about the natural medicine cure for low back pain, let's look at why it is so common in pregnancy. First, a hormonal change causes ligaments to loosen in preparation for delivery. As a result strain is placed on the low back leading to pain. Oftentimes a woman will feel low back pain in the first trimester and some claim that low back pain can be a pregnancy symptom.

As a woman moves through pregnancy her uterus gets heavier, usually during the second trimester, causing her center of gravity to change. As a result this woman may change her posture and her gait causing further strain on the low back. Finally, there is a separation of the front abdominal muscles that decrease the support of the abdomen, leading to a pull on the lower back.

Prolotherapy for Lower Back Pain Caused by Pregnancy

Since a possible cause of low back pain during early pregnancy has to do with ligament laxity, Prolotherapy is the perfect treatment. Loose ligaments can often lead to injured ligaments leading to pain. Research has shown that acupuncture helps with this condition. Well, Prolotherapy is similar to acupuncture in that it causes blood flow to the area of pain. The main difference is that Prolotherapy causes a much larger inflammatory response leading to more blood flow and healing factors rushing to the injury sight. Prolotherapy involves injections of dextrose, sarapin and a small amount of lidocaine, all perfectly safe during pregnancy.

Proper Diet Plan for Pregnancy

Pain treatment at Caring Medical begins with Prolotherapy and is made complete with the Hauser Diet, a unique approach in prescribing diets. There are many pregnancy diet recommendations, but we believe a diet should be individualized to a person's unique physiology, even during pregnancy. Hormone changes can alter a person's dietary needs. For example, a rise in progesterone causes a rise in blood pH. Did you feel particularly warm during your pregnancy? It's because progesterone was raising your body temperature and in effect raising your blood pH and changing your metabolism and physiology. To keep physiology balanced and help the body repair any injured ligaments, a unique diet is needed for each pregnant woman. Diet Typing is the key to figuring out proper diet for pregnancy and low back pain relief during pregnancy. Maybe you need to eat a lower-fat low protein diet such as the Monkey Diet. Or maybe your blood pH shows a need for increased protein and fat. A proper diet plan is relative to your current physiology. And as you may very well know, physiology changes dramatically during pregnancy and pregnancy affects every woman differently.

Caring Medical acknowledges the unique experience of every woman and tailors both Prolotherapy and diet to meet her needs. Our Prolotherapy physician, Dr. Ross Hauser, is able to examine each patient to determine the exact location of injury and create a plan to heal the area and prevent pain. Don't let low back pain plague you before or after pregnancy. Give us a call today to get rid of the pain and enjoy this special time in your life!