Mid-back pain in new mums.

Have you ever felt a tight and sore in mid-back after feeding, carrying baby or bathing baby? This is very common when caring for bubs specially if you are new mum and this is your first baby.

 The pain could be coming from the muscles being over used, over worked and under strengthen. We get it! life is a bit hectic and you are probably trying to get back to some sort of exercises routine, but at the same time feeling exhausted due to the repetitive nature of the tasks when caring for bubs. This repetitive motion and lack of strengthening exercises is what is causing that extra pressure/strain on your back.

Pain is usually felt after, but if severe it can be felt during the activity as well. The pain may be coming from the muscle feeling overworked or it could also be coming from the spine feeling stiff as it’s been ‘stuck’ in one position for a little too long.

Let’s learn more about the anatomy of your mid back. Because knowledge is power! The more you understand your body the more you are in control.

  The thoracic spine aka your mid back is made up of 12 vertebrae. This is the section of your spine that has the most range of movement. Flexion (rounding), extension (arching), rotation (twisting), lateral flexion (bending sideways). As human we have naturally lose a lot of mobility in this area as most of the activities we do involve reaching forwards and bending over (flexion).

We have about 5 major muscles across this thoracic region. These muscles not only support the thoracic spine but they also assist in the movement. The major muscles are (from the deepest layer to the most superficial):

-       Erector spine: the function of theses is to help extend the mid-back, for most of us these are very week as we don’t do much of this movement

-       Serratus posterior superior and inferior: these muscles help the ribcage move when breathing in and out

-       Rhomboids: These muscles help lift, rotate and bring the shoulder blades together

-       Middle and lower trapezius: The lower section of your trapezius helps lower the shoulder and the shoulder blades. These muscles are very important for posture! Yes, you guess it right this one is usually a weak muscle in all of us.

-       Lats: These muscles also help bring that shoulder and shoulder blade down, but it also has a big role in helping move your arm inwards and backwards.

-       Other Muscles that are also extremely important for posture are your core muscles! These muscles sit at the front or they wrap around like a corset around your trunk section. This is something that could also be contributing to you back pain as A: you just had a baby and those muscles are feeling very stretched and weak. B: most of the activity you are doing when carrying for baby is leading forward, which naturally switching off those core muscles.

Common Symptoms:

-       Dull aching pain can be felt during or after any task, depending on severity, it may last a few minutes or last up to a few hours.

-       Sharp pain on movement. Again, this can be felt during the task or after, once you get up and moving again.

-       Muscle Spasm in the mid back area

-       Struggling to get comfortable in any position

-       You may feel this pain with: coughing, sneezing or laughing as this involves the rib cage. This pain tends to be sharp in nature

How can a physio help?

• Diagnose exactly where it is coming from: As physios we are able to asses exactly where this pain may be coming from. You have just learned the anatomy of the mid back is supper complex and this pain could be coming from any of the 12 vertebrae or those 5 muscles mentioned above. It’s important to know where this is coming from as the treatment and the exercises will differ. When you get on top of it and you get the right diagnosis, we can get a hold of it quickly and it’s a pain that is not going to last long.

• Treatment: This include but is not limited to, trigger point release of the muscles, joint/spine manipulation, dry needling and cupping.

• Taping: We can help by taping the muscles that we believe are contributing to this pain, this will give them some extra support and temporary relief.  

• Activity modification: We can also teach you how to modify some of the positions to decrease the ‘overused’ of the muscles. Making sure you are in a better position for both the muscles and the spine. You want to find those positions where there is minimal stress and strain on the body.

• Exercises: There are also specific exercises you can do to help strength the mid-back so that the muscles feel capable of the load and the extra work that is required. There are also specific exercises you can do for spine mobility. This will relief that build up stiffness in the thoracic spine. Remember motion in lotion. The body is not a huge fan of long sustain position which is naturally what tends to happened when you are a new mum caring for bubs.

This article was written by Physiotherapist Catalina Verjan. To book an appointment with one of our physios click here.