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14 Remedies for Lower Back Pain in Pregnancy
Written by: James Gill BOst GOsC 6039. Registered Osteopath, Founder & Clinic Director
Medically Reviewed: Yannick Gracia, M.Ost GOsC 10475. Registered Lead Osteopath
Pregnancy is a time where your body goes through a lot of physical changes. These changes are a normal part of pregnancy, however, they can cause you to experience back pain or Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP). Many pregnant women say that their back pain is worse during the third trimester however, some women can experience back pain as early as 4 to 16 weeks into pregnancy.
Back pain can be irritating and make sleeping difficult, but luckily there are some things you can do to reduce it. In this article, we’ve provided some more information on pregnancy-related back pain and some things you can do to safely reduce your pain.
When to Consult Your Midwife or GP Immediately
When to Consult Your Midwife or NHS GP Immediately
Before trying home remedies, please be aware of “Red Flag” symptoms. While most back pain is mechanical, contact a healthcare professional or consult the NHS guide on back pain in pregnancy if you experience:
- Vaginal bleeding or leaking of fluid.
- Sudden, severe swelling in hands, face, or feet.
- Fever accompanied by backache.
- Pain or burning during urination.
- Loss of sensation in your “saddle area,” groin, or legs.
What Causes Back Pain in Pregnancy?
- During pregnancy, your body produces a hormone called relaxin which allows the ligaments in your pelvic area to loosen and stretch to prepare your body for labour. This can put a strain on your joints causing back pain and affecting the stability of the sacroiliac joints.
- Pregnancy causes your centre of gravity to shift, and you might find yourself changing your posture to compensate for this. This often leads to “anterior pelvic tilt,” putting extra pressure on the lumbar spine. This shift often causes overwork in the Quadratus Lumborum (QL) muscle, which can lead to deep, one-sided lower back ache.
Stretches & Exercises to Help Back Pain
Exercise is equally as important as rest during pregnancy. For back pain especially, exercise is crucial as it strengthens the muscles and improves flexibility. Although it can be tempting to lie down when back pain hits, this isn’t always recommended. Instead, try some exercises or stretches that have been proven to help relieve back pain.
Yoga is beneficial for back pain since it encourages stretching. In a yoga class, you will be led through different breathing, stretching and meditation techniques. As well as being great for relieving back pain, focused breathing and mental centring can also be very beneficial for pain relief during labour.
Prenatal yoga, hatha yoga and restorative yoga are the best types of yoga for pregnant women. Hot yoga should be avoided during pregnancy because the excessive exposure to heat increases the risk of neural tube defects and possibly other malformations to the fetus. Remember to talk to the instructor before starting any type of yoga class to check whether it is suitable.
When practising Yoga, be careful not to overdo it. Because of the increased production of the hormone relaxin in pregnancy, the ligaments around your joints will be much looser and you might find you're much more flexible than you used to be, which can increase the chance of injury. Focus on stability rather than deep flexibility.
1-2-1 Pilates is a low-impact exercise that helps improve your posture and movement. Pilates is a particularly good exercise for those with back pain; many of the exercises practised in a pilates class are designed to strengthen the deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles, which support the back. Pilates often focusses on strengthening your pelvic floor muscles, which is important for labour and recovery after birth, it can also be great for preparing for childbirth. At Bodytonic Clinic, our 1-2-1 Clinical Pilates approach ensures exercises are tailored to your specific trimester.
Swimming is a great exercise for pregnant women because the water can help to support your extra weight, reducing any pressure and stress on your joints and spine. This also makes any high-impact motions more gentle on your body. Your local swimming pool might offer pregnancy aqua classes where you will be led through a range of exercises and stretches suitable for pregnant women. The buoyancy of water is particularly helpful for those suffering from Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD).
Some gentle stretching can help to relieve tension in your muscles and ease back pain, by loosening and strengthening the muscles. Try adding some gentle pregnancy stretches into your usual exercise routine to build up strength in your back. Some great stretches for back pain to include in your routine include the cat-cow stretch and child's pose. It can be a good idea to use an exercise ball to provide extra support when stretching too. Always move slowly and avoid bouncing during stretches.
Posture and Sleeping
Finding a comfortable sleeping position can be difficult when pregnant, especially if you're struggling with back pain. In the early trimester, sleeping in any position is fine and safe for your baby. In the later trimesters, it's recommended that you sleep on your left-hand side, to allow optimal blood flow from the inferior vena cava (IVC) to your heart. To relieve back pain, sleep on your side with one or both knees bent. Placing a pillow between your knees can also help keep your pelvis level and reduce evening backache.
Meditation can be very effective for pain management. Practising breathing techniques whilst meditating can help unclench tense muscles in your back and help to decrease your perception of pain. Practising meditation will teach you to focus on something calming such as the ocean and waves, which can be effective pain-relief when experiencing back pain and can also help during labour.
Regular meditation also has many mental health benefits, including reduced stress levels. Across the UK, up to 1 in 5 women develop some form of mental health problem during their pregnancy or in the year after giving birth. Women who experience stress or anxiety during pregnancy are more likely to deliver their babies preterm or at low birth weights. Doctors have said that meditation can be very effective for mums to be both during pregnancy and labour.
To help you find a comfortable sleeping position, you might want to consider a pregnancy pillow. There are a few different types of pregnancy pillows available, but most come in either U or C shapes and are long pillows designed to cushion your body from head to toe. You can wrap the pregnancy pillow around your body or use the pillow to support your back or hips whilst sleeping.
To support your back in the later trimesters of pregnancy, it's important that you have a firm and supportive mattress to sleep on. Nine months is a long time to struggle to sleep comfortably, so a high-quality mattress is well worth the investment. A memory foam mattress can be great for helping with back pain, as they contour closely to your body to provide extra support. If you don't want to buy a new mattress, you could consider getting a memory foam mattress topper.
Many pregnant women find that their posture changes during pregnancy. If you find yourself leaning back to compensate for your bump, our Stratford and Canada Water Osteopaths can provide a postural assessment to help realign your spine.
Professional Clinical Care at Bodytonic
At Bodytonic Clinic, we offer a multi-disciplinary approach to pregnancy care. Our Canada Water and Stratford clinics provide three primary clinical pathways for back pain:
- Osteopathy for Pregnancy: Our Registered Osteopaths use gentle, non-manipulative techniques to improve the harmony between your bones, muscles, and ligaments as your body changes.
- Physiotherapy for Pregnancy: Our Physiotherapists focus on rehabilitation and strengthening, helping you manage conditions like Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) through targeted exercise and manual therapy.
- Chiropractic for Pregnancy: Our Chiropractors focus on the relationship between the spine and the nervous system, using safe, specific adjustments to ensure optimal pelvic alignment.
"In our Canada Water and Stratford clinics, we find that many women wait until the third trimester to seek help. However, addressing minor pelvic shifts in the second trimester can often prevent the severe QL and lower back spasms that make the final weeks so uncomfortable."
Alternative Therapies for Back Pain
Hot and cold compresses can help to reduce inflammation and ease back pain. First, lower the body temperature with a cold compress to help constrict the blood vessels to slow the blood flow to reduce swelling and decrease inflammation. This also causes a numbing effect. Once inflammation is reduced, apply heat. Heat boosts the flow of blood and nutrients to an area of the body, improving the flexibility of soft tissues and movement of muscles. You should repeat this process intermittently for several hours or days in order to improve tissue healing and prevent recurrence of pain.
Before using hot and cold compresses, you should consult either your NHS GP or midwife to ensure it is safe to do this whilst pregnant. It is not always safe to apply heat to certain parts of the body such as your abdomen whilst pregnant, and a healthcare professional will be able to advise you how to use hot and cold compresses safely without causing harm to your baby. Generally, a warm (not hot) bath is a safer alternative for full-body muscular relaxation.
Acupuncture is an alternative medicine often used as a method of pain relief. During an acupuncture session, thin needles are inserted into certain parts of the body to stimulate the nerves and muscles, release endorphins and neurotransmitters. This process can help speed the body's way of handling pain and restore the flow of Qi (the body's energy flow) to normal. Acupuncture has been shown to be beneficial for pregnant women, especially during the first trimester to alleviate early symptoms such as nausea. It's also helped many people cope with lower back pain. NICE guidelines in the UK acknowledge acupuncture as a valid option for managing persistent low back pain. Before trying acupuncture, you should consult your GP to ensure it is safe and before a session, make sure that the acupuncture therapist is aware that you are pregnant.
Osteopathy is an alternative medicine that uses physical manipulation techniques such as stretching and massage to provide pain relief to your muscles and joints. At Bodytonic Clinic, while Osteopathy is safe for expectant mothers, our clinical policy is to wait until you are past your first trimester (12 weeks) before commencing treatment. This ensures your pregnancy is well-established before we begin manual therapy.
In an appointment, an osteopath will want to find the source of the problem and hear more about your general health. They will also complete an examination to see how they can best help you. After an examination, an osteopath will usually use a combination of massage and manipulation techniques to help improve your posture. Our London osteopaths use gentle, non-manipulative techniques specifically adapted for the comfort and safety of both mother and baby. They might also provide you with some stretches and exercises you can practise between appointments to improve your posture and alleviate strain.
Although health professionals say osteopathy is safe for pregnant women, it's still advised to get the advice of your GP before booking an appointment. Always make sure that an osteopath is aware that you're pregnant before your appointment.
IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is not suitable for use during pregnancy. However, if your Lower Back Pain or Pelvic Girdle Pain persists for several weeks or months after childbirth, advanced treatments can provide significant postpartum relief. We utilise the versatility of Radial Shockwave (ESWT) to release chronic muscle guarding in the back and hips, and the precision of Focused Shockwave (FSWT) to target lingering joint inflammation, helping you achieve a full and pain-free recovery.
The extra weight of your baby bump can cause a lot of tension to build up in your back muscles. A pregnancy massage incorporates a variety of massage techniques and is a great way to ease muscular discomfort and muscle tightening that can be experienced throughout the body, including calf muscles, lower back pain and upper back pain. It can also help to reduce swelling and improve circulation. A relaxing massage is also a great way to treat yourself to a rare relaxing moment before your baby arrives, to enjoy some pampering and calm your mind and body before giving birth. At Bodytonic Clinic, our therapists are specifically trained in prenatal positioning to ensure you are fully supported throughout the treatment.
Please note that at Bodytonic Clinic, we only provide pregnancy massage for clients who are 12 weeks pregnant or more. A pregnancy massage incorporates a variety of massage techniques and is a great way to ease muscular discomfort.
Medication for pain relief
If you haven’t found a natural back-ache remedy that works for you or if your back pain becomes very severe, it might be worth consulting your doctor about possible pain relief medications. Your doctor might recommend medication such as acetaminophen (Paracetamol) or another type of pain relief. Never take medication during your pregnancy without consulting your doctor first as this can be very dangerous for the health of your baby. Always avoid ibuprofen (NSAIDs) during pregnancy unless specifically prescribed by your consultant.
Clinic Locations & Booking
Bodytonic Clinic provides expert care across two convenient London locations:
- Canada Water Clinic: 8 Treatment Rooms, located near Canada Water Station (Jubilee Line & Overground).
- Stratford Clinic: 5 Treatment Rooms, located near Stratford Station and Westfield.
Bupa / Axa Insurance Accepted*
Yes, but it must be adapted. At Bodytonic Clinic we use specific prenatal positioning and avoid certain pressure points to ensure safety while still providing deep relief for the QL and glutes.
At Bodytonic Clinic, our policy is to wait until you are past your first trimester (12 weeks) before commencing Osteopathy, Chiropractic, or Pregnancy Massage treatments. While manual therapy is common during pregnancy, we adopt this cautious “safety-first” approach to ensure your pregnancy is well-established before beginning treatment. Once you reach your second trimester, our registered practitioners use gentle, non-manipulative techniques specifically adapted for the safety of both mother and baby.
Labor contractions are usually rhythmic, increase in intensity, and don’t resolve with rest or position changes. If your ‘back pain’ comes in regular waves, contact your midwife immediately.
