Jun 17 2008
Statistics of Chronic Pain with Pregnancy
Ask any pregnant woman and they will tell you, it’s a pain. There is the bloating, the constipation, the morning sickness, and the stress on joints. However for a vast majority of these women, the pain is still there far after the baby has been born. This pregnancy pain can turn into chronic lifelong pain.
Statistics of Pain with Pregnancy
It has been said that the numbers don’t lie, and the numbers in regard of chronic pain with pregnancy is hard to overlook. 25-56% of those that are pregnant will suffer from back or pelvic pain while they are pregnant. Three percent of these will get severely disabled from it, and a clear third of the pregnant women will have pain so severe that it will affect their work, their sleep, and their daily lives. Another study was done that showed that out of 870 women who were on physical therapy for their pain, most had a higher prevalence of back and pelvic pain, a higher body mass index, and had a history of pain syndromes in prior pregnancies.
Treatment of Pain while Pregnant
Typically health officials and doctors will try to treat this pain as non-medicinally as possible. This is due to the vulnerable period of a pregnancy, weeks four through ten, in where the organs are developing in the fetus. Methods that are typically used to help relieve the pain include acupuncture, self hypnosis, counseling, exercise, hot or cold packs, massage, and pelvic belts. When medicine is used, the patient is told to refrain from NSAIDs as they are not safe to the fetus, while things like codeine and acetaminophen are safe.
See the Pregnant Pause blog here at Today.com for more pregnancy info;)
