Pain in the sacrum during pregnancy

When a woman complains of pain in the sacrum during pregnancy, it means that she is bothered by pain localized in the sacrum area. The pain may have nothing to do with the sacrum bone itself. The collective image of "sacral pain" is a symptom of a whole complex of diseases that require special attention, and in a state of pregnancy, attention should be increased many times over. Pregnant women, experiencing constant increasing pressure on the pelvic bones, are forced to put up with minor discomfort, but pain should not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Painful manifestations in the sacrum and lumbar region in pregnant women can be caused by many factors. Some causes are provoked by changes in the body due to pregnancy, others are not related to pregnancy, but are related to the initial dysfunction of some organs. That is why there are two types of pain in the sacrum region in pregnant women: pain related and not related to pregnancy.

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Sacral pain associated with pregnancy

Pain in the sacrum during pregnancy is, in most cases, a sign of "fatigue" of the spinal column and the muscular-ligamentous apparatus of the back, especially in the lumbar region. The baby in the womb develops quickly, with a constant weight gain, the woman's belly becomes larger and heavier every day. For these reasons, the woman is often forced to take a body position that is not typical in a normal, non-pregnant state. When standing and walking, the body is curved in the lumbar region, and the center of gravity is shifted slightly back. Due to this, the pressure on the pelvis is increased, and the muscles of the lumbar region are forced to be in constant tension.

In the later stages of pregnancy, pain in the sacral region becomes a harbinger of approaching labor. For example, premature labor manifests itself as follows: regular, periodically recurring pain, accompanied by increased tone of the uterus and muscles of the anterior abdominal wall, due to which the abdomen becomes denser, becoming like a "squeezed lump."

Nature has designed every mechanism in our body in such a way that it, the body, is able to adapt to all the natural processes occurring in it. Pregnancy is no exception. We are talking about the so-called training contractions. A woman begins to feel pain in the sacrum during pregnancy precisely during such contractions. They appear long before the moment of birth of the child. These contractions are short-term, the pain is not strong and very remotely resembles real contractions before childbirth. With such "training" the body tests its capabilities and weaknesses. No special actions to eliminate training contractions need to be taken, this is a completely natural, one might say, working process.

In addition to the listed causes of pain, the following are also possible:

• infectious diseases of the pelvic organs;
• exacerbation of existing chronic diseases;
• hormonal disorders;
• lack of calcium and other microelements in bone tissue.

This is far from the entire list of possible causes of painful sensations in the sacrum and lower back associated with the pregnancy process, but the most common ones have already been named. Now it remains to find out the causes of these same pains, which also appear during pregnancy, but are not directly related to it.

Sacral pain not related to pregnancy

The nature of the origin of other causes that result in pain in the sacrum during pregnancy is associated with the presence of pathological processes in the ligamentous apparatus of the small pelvis, with developmental disorders of the pelvic bones themselves or problems with the spine, pinching of nerve endings in the lumbar region (neuralgia of various etiologies). Before pregnancy, a woman could suffer from one of those diseases that previously caused pain in the sacrum and lower back, but they were not given such importance as during pregnancy.

When planning your pregnancy in advance, and knowing that there are “deficiencies” in the body, it is necessary to obtain detailed advice from the relevant doctors on issues of further behavior in the event of an exacerbation of chronic diseases or the appearance of concomitant diseases that can aggravate the course of the underlying disease and adversely affect the pregnancy.

How to find out why the sacrum hurts and where to go?

Pregnant women should first of all ask their gynecologist all questions related to their health and the health of the fetus. In case of any suspicious symptoms or concerns about the future of the baby, contact the doctor immediately. After conducting an initial examination and asking in detail about all sensations, the gynecologist will do the necessary tests (smear, general blood and urine tests), and, if necessary, refer you for a consultation with other specialists, as well as for additional diagnostic methods.

If the pain in the sacrum during pregnancy bothers constantly and is not caused by processes related to the pregnancy itself, it is very difficult to eliminate it, because to determine the root cause, diagnostic methods are needed that can have a detrimental effect on the fetus. For example, X-ray examination methods are contraindicated for pregnant women, MRI and even computed tomography is not completely safe. Therefore, before finally choosing the option of diagnostic measures, a full range of "safe" examinations is necessary and only in cases of urgent need, it is necessary to resort to hardware diagnostics. It is not always possible to independently find out the true cause of pain, and the probability of being wrong in your assumption is very high.

Treatment of sacral pain during pregnancy

From all of the above, it is probably already extremely clear that it is not always possible to determine the true cause of pain from the very first minutes. After undergoing a set of diagnostic procedures, having confirmation or refutation of the fact that the pain is associated with the pregnancy process, the attending physician decides to prescribe drug therapy. If the pain was indeed associated with the pregnancy process, then, again, depending on the cause, a vitamin complex, a relaxing light massage on the lumbar region, wearing a bandage or special exercises that help relieve tension in the lumbosacral muscles may be prescribed. It is very likely that medications will be prescribed if the pain is pronounced.

Regardless of the reasons, pain in the sacrum during pregnancy is a reason for another meeting with a gynecologist. If there are combined causes of different diseases, then constant monitoring of the health of the mother and baby should be carried out by a whole team of specialists. The behavior of the pregnant woman herself should not be written off. Taking an active part in maintaining your health, you should know in which cases painful sensations are the result of a natural process, and when it is worth sounding the alarm and, without wasting precious time, urgently seek medical help.