Back pain happens to almost all women at some time during or after their pregnancy. It’s the most common side effect of delivering through a caesarean section.
After a C-section delivery, the pain is felt most often in the lower back, starting at the tail bone and upper hips, and radiating upwards. Some women report exclusive pain to the left of the spine. Then again, some women do not feel any prolonged symptoms except the initial discomfort after the surgery.
Causes of Backache
Pregnancy and hormonal imbalances cause your abdominal muscles to become weak, straining the pelvic muscles and leading to back pain.
This pain tends to aggravate after delivery especially a c-section due to numerous reasons:
During surgery, although the epidural that injects anesthesia into the spinal fluid causes only a slight discomfort, itching, tingling or numbness, later it might cause swelling and chronic pain in some women.
A muscular imbalance that puts undue stress on your spine and pelvis, and a post-operative scar tissue which might get stretched above the pubic bone may also cause a lot of back pain.
The back might feel sore if you’ve been into a prolonged labor before the c-section.
The pain gets worse with the use of an uncomfortable mattress and the poor posture of the woman while breastfeeding.
How to Cope with Backache
Yoga is a solution to most of our lifestyle problems. Of course you’ll first need the green signal from your doctor before starting with even walking, which is the best and gentlest form of exercise to combat back pain.
Do light stretching exercises and simple yoga poses like shavasana, tadasana, shalabhasana and fish pose. After a few weeks, you may also consider specific exercises for back pain like Pilates and swimming. Light exercises help to tone and strengthen the abdominal and pelvic muscles.
Rest: Take lots of rest during the six weeks after surgery. Doctors advise not to lift anything heavier than your baby for this time. Strictly avoid activities that require you to stretch, twist, bend and climb stairs.
