Managing pelvic and back pain during pregnancy
There are lots of recommendations to prevent or treat this cause of back pain.
Here’s what the Cochrane Collaboration found.
No studies were designed specifically to prevent of back or pelvic pain.
Strengthening exercises, sitting pelvic tilt exercises, and water gymnastics reduced pain intensity and back pain-related sick leave better than usual prenatal care alone.
What about acupuncture?
- Relieved pelvic pain more than usual prenatal care
- More relief from evening pain than exercises
- More effective than physiotherapy in reducing the intensity pelvic and back pain
Finally, if you can get your hands on the Ozzlo pillow, use it, because it’s more effective than a regular one to relieve back pain. Unfortunately, it’s no longer made, and there were none listed on eBay.
The bottom line?
Victoria Pennick, who is a registered nurse and lead author says, “Given the [low] level of scientific rigor by which these studies were done, you have to be cautious.”
“It’s very difficult to turn around and say ‘this intervention works better than that one’ because you didn’t have that level of certainty in the studies.”
Fortunately, the condition is self-limiting.
5/7/07 21:29 JR