Pulled back 10 weeks, in agony! Help!

[Ladyopheliastar]

Anyone got suggestions for a pulled muscle in the back? Don't want to take any medication.

TENS?

Good thinking. I don't have one of those yet but heard they were good for early stages of birth.

Rest and ice?

Are you taking paracetamol? I know you say no medication, but paracetamol is considered pretty darn safe in pregnancy. Just make sure you don't take any aspirin or ibuprofen.

Ice sounds painful, but will try. Looked up tens and they don't recommend them for use in pregnancy.

Could I put something warm on it?

No TENS in pregnancy? Huh, glad you looked it up, I was considering using it myself.

You can't use TENS in the earlier stages, it's ok later on.

Acupuncture is good, although they usually won't treat lower back in the early stages, only upper back/neck/shoulders.

You can put a heat pad on it, unless it's your lower back when you shouldn't really.

Oh, yes it's lower back...I think I'm just going to have to scream and bare it.

I've had back problems and doc suggested rotating hot water bottle (not too hot...maybe covered in a towel) and an ice pack (again, not too cold, maybe wrapped in a towel). a couple of mins or so hot, then cold etc etc. They said this can be more effective than just a hot pack or an ice pack on own. Also some stretches really helped, but not sure how to explain what stretches I did on a message board! Maybe search stretches online ??

See a physiotherapist? A bit expensive but they should be able to 'fix' it through massage. I had something similar which my physio said is very commonly caused by lifting toddlers!

see an osteo if you can. Also doc said it was ok for me to use ibuleve when pg. hope it fixes soon.

Homeopathy and Osteopathy could help. Osteopathy good to help with problems as your pregnancy progresses and Homeopathy a good alternative to medicines.

Totally see an osteopath. I have a bad back at the moment (exacerbated by recent pregnany and now hefty DS) and I've been to two sessions and already feel a big difference.

The actual injury ocurred in my last pregnancy and I had MONTHS of physio and saw a chiropractor and none of it made as much difference as the 2 visits to an osteopath.

Hope you feel better soon, bad backs are the pits

In my experience an osteopath won't see you before 13 weeks. That's why I ended up having acupuncture and acupressure massage - although that was in my shoulder and they also told me they couldn't treat the lower back in early pregnancy either.

I'd recommend a chiropractor, but like an osteo, they tend not to like to treat before so many weeks, 14 or 16 I think.

I've seen mine every 6 weeks through my pg (29 weeks now) and he's helped so much. I had dreadful problems with my back carrying DS, but touch wood, no problems so far with this one.

I saw a chiro after being stupid with a planter at about 10 weeks.

We discussed the possible risks first. She said that if I was going to miscarry anyway, the treatment might speed it up. And I think I signed something to say that I understood this, and that I wouldn't sue her.

I was miserable with the pulled muscle, couldn't sit still, couldn't concentrate. And I felt like such an idiot because I'd been telling everyone to stop treating me like I was made of glass. The midwife said a hot water bottle was fine.

One chiro session relieved it totally. I've gone on to see her for pregnancy care.

Thanks ladies!