Pregnancy pillow/Back pain prevention possibilities... ?

ANSWER:
Attention women experiencing back pain during pregnancy: You might want to try a specially shaped pillow which fits under the woman's abdomen (Ozzlo pillow)... See the Young G, Jewell D [2000] PubMed abstract at the end of this post. I have never seen this pillow; though I likely used something similar while in spinal adjusting practice. Ask your health professional.

Though of course I am biased, I recommend spinal adjusting. While still in spinal adjusting practice - I loved to adjust pregnant patients! They are easy to adjust (see relaxin mentioned below); and they are generally quite grateful afterwards. I hasten to add: Some women did NOT improve under my care - but the majority did - and they obtained immediate relief. Most took my advice to come in monthly. Some came to me more frequently, when they had symptoms. Note also: Their results might have been "merely" the placebo effect.

it is quite easy not to sit on the sacrum while sitting on a chair... One can slide one's buttocks all the way to the back of the chair and either lean forward - or one can "sit up straight"... I personally tend to lean forward because it's closer to what most humans on the planet do; plus, "sitting up straight" pinches posterior disc quadrants and it's the posterior disc quadrants which degenerate most often.

Also, I try to take 3 minute gluteal self massage/stretching breaks every 15 minutes. I take such breaks because according to Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology, we shift unconsiously in our chairs because of chronic imminent gluteal tissue death which will otherwise occur after we have been sitting on our gluteal tissues for 20 or 30 minutes. BTW, even though the periodic gluteal self massage I do is done through clothing, it looks funny, so if your health professional OKs it - do it in private - or inform before you perform. Otherwise - depending on gender - you'll frighten (or amuse) your co-workers...

To determine the incidence and correlation of joint hypermobility (HM) and peripartum pelvic pain (PPPP) in an homogeneous pregnant South African population. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study among Cape Coloured pregnant women. Joint mobility was measured by Beighton score; PPPP with a specially developed PPPP score. RESULTS: Using the Beighton scores with a cut-off point of HM > or = 5/9, only 4.9% of the 509 pregnant women were hypermobile. Hyperextension of the elbow was the largest contributor to HM (35.4%). No correlation of HM with the incidence of PPPP was established. Only 20 very mild cases of PPPP were recorded. Back pain increased significantly during pregnancy to a mean of 38%. Right handedness occurred in 95.9%. No significant relation was found between HM and the non-dominant side. CONCLUSION: Hypermobility in pregnant Cape Coloured women was surprisingly low (4.9%) with a decrease with age, but no increase during pregnancy. ********Peripartum pelvic pain is virtually absent and has no correlation with joint laxity. Back pain increased during pregnancy to a mean of 38%. Right handedness was high (96%) in comparison with the world-wide figure of 85%. No correlation was found between the dominant body side and hypermobility.

More than a third of women experience back pain during pregnancy. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the review was to assess the effects of preventive interventions and treatments for backache in pregnancy. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials register and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials of any treatment to reduce the incidence or severity of back pain in pregnancy, or to prevent back pain arising in pregnancy. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Trial quality was assessed and data were extracted independently by two reviewers. MAIN RESULTS: One trial of 109 women was included. This cross-over trial compared the use of a special shaped pillow to fit under the woman's abdomen (Ozzlo pillow) with a standard pillow. Women experienced less pain in the week when they used the Ozzlo pillow than in the week with the standard pillow (odds ratio 0.32, 95% confidence interval 0.18 to 0.58). REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Specially shaped pillows appear to help reduce back pain in late pregnancy and improve sleep.