Well that got your attention! Please don’t be offended by the title, but if you are in one of the following 2 groups please read on.

1. You are pregnant

2. You have a large stomach

Sometimes we come across a client with lower back pain who has been told “you just need to lose weight” .  Now there is truth in that statement but at the same time it is not that helpful. For most of us when we are told to do something we have an inner rebel who says “i am not doing what you tell me to do!”.  But if there was some explanation as to how the weight is contributing to causing the lower back pain, and some help to assist the individual in how to lose the weight, the outcome may be more conducive. So here goes….

Well one of the roles of your lower back is to take your weight, or the weight or your head arms and upper body at least, plus anything you may lift or carry.  Ideally your weight falls centrally through the main part of the lower vertebral bones and centrally through the discs. They have a big surface area and so can dissipate the weight well.  It is what they are designed to do.

Now if you have a big belly, whether that is due to being overweight or if you are pregnant then you may :

• Be pulled into a different position or you will lean back slightly to counteract that weight.

• Have lengthened your tummy muscles

• Put more weight onto the small joints of your back.

Now the joints may not like it and when they reach the limit of what they are happy to tolerate they will let you know about it with some “danger” signals and you may experience back pain.  In addition to this your back muscles will have to work harder to keep you upright against the downward pull of the weight of your tummy. If they get tired and reach their limit, they too can cause you back pain.

So if you get relief when you sit or bend over or lean forwards against something then this is you.  Yes weight loss, or giving birth to that baby!, will most definitely help, but now you know why!

There are lots of other things you can do too.

1. Avoid swaying your hips forward for too long.

2. Gradually work on increasing the strength of your back, bum and abdominal muscles, you can do this well into the third trimester.

3. Slump when you sit! Your back will love it for periods of time and should tell you that when you do it by giving some pain relief.

If you have pain like this and would like further help with your back pain or advice on how to exercise without making your pain worse please give us a call.

Please share this with anyone you think it could help!