Pregnancy and upper back pain

A 35 year old pregnant patient who complained of upper back and shoulder pain. This pain was partly due to caring for a young child who liked to be held but also due to the biomechanical changes that occur during pregnancy. 

During pregnancy there are a number of changes that affect our body’s. The main change being that there is an increased weight at the front due to the growing stomach size. This increases the curve of our spine as it adjusts to the change in centre of gravity. The change of centre of gravity and the increase in breast size will often lead to a forward pull of your chest while your back muscles are fighting to bring you back up straight. This can often lead to tiredness through your upper back. Combine this with a  child that wants lots of hugs and you create a very tired and sore upper back and shoulders. 

As an Osteopath we took steps to open up the front of the chest through stretching and working with the muscles.  Then we used articulation techniques / mobilisation to get the upper back and ribs moving.  We followed up the treatment providing strengthening exercises to the upper back to support the changes of the body.