Half way into her second pregnancy Dagny started to get pain in her pelvic floor and a feeling of strain in her lower abdominal muscles as her baby grew.
She had started having osteopathic therapy during her first pregnancy as preventative treatment to help her body stay free of the typical aches and pains that can occur with pregnancy and had brought her daughter in for a check up after birth.
When I checked Dagny it was obvious that due to some preexisting strains, her left hip and the muscles on the left side of the pelvic floor, were struggling to adapt to the changes and demands placed on her body by pregnancy. The left side of her pelvis felt ‘stuck’, simply unable to widen as much as it needed to and as a result there was a big strain going up into her low back, down onto her bladder and pelvic floor and compression on her left hip joint – all of these were causing considerable discomfort.
It took us the first session to figure all of this out. Some of it changed in the first session but it was clear she would need a few regular treatments to get it sorted out. The great thing was it was obvious that it would change with only a few treatments and that she had not left it too late into the pregnancy for treatment to help.
It only took about three sessions to alleviate the tension and pain. In the second session there was a huge change and the left side of her pelvis began to move more freely and the tension lifted off her pelvic floor, hip and bladder as her whole lower body gained in flexibility. Not only did Dagny feel better but from our osteopathic perspective her body felt like it was given a helping hand to enable the second half of her pregnancy to go smoothly and ultimately be set, from a musculo-skeletal perspective, for labour.
We did a total of six treatments. The last 2 treatments were a great opportunity to address other areas of tension that seemed to be a result of the left sided pelvic tension. Because of the strain lower in her body Dagny’s ribs on her left side felt stiff and as a result she had not been breathing well into her left lung and because of the strain into her rib cage her neck muscles were tight on the left side because she had begun over using the accessory breathing muscles and that in turn was creating tension all the way up to the left side of her jaw!
Her whole left side needed treating to help her breath deeply in a more balanced way left and right; her jaw needed treating to alleviate the pressure that had built up at the jaw joint close to the ear; and her rib cage needed help to regain every inch of flexibility possible to help her get good oxygen intake and get rid of all the waste products that are removed with each exhale.
A secondary area of tension Dagny complained of that is typical when one hip gets tight was her knee. As soon as the hip is restricted the knee has to do movements it doesn’t like doing. Add to this the extra weight of the baby and even the slightest strain places noticeable tension on the knees and ankles. To some people this is obvious by swelling more in one ankle than the other during pregnancy. This indicates that one side of the pelvis is more restricted than the other and shows how important balanced flexibility is for blood and lymph fluids to be pumped back,against gravity, to the heart.
When everything seemed balanced I showed Dagny some stretches her husband could do at home with her to help release her low back and I gave her a yoga posture to help her release tension in her mid back.
Dagny gave birth naturally to a healthy baby a couple of weeks after the last session with the help of midwives in hospital. Because of the treatments during pregnancy Dagny was also able to move about more quickly after birth which is an essential part of healing.
The English Osteopaths believe that if you give yourself the right environment in which to thrive, you will. Make an appointment to see us, and we’ll help you find that environment.
