Self-help may ease back pain from pregnancy

Lower back pain is common during and after pregnancy, but learning a few self-management techniques may ease the pain for many women, a study suggests.

In a clinical trial involving 126 women with lingering back pain after childbirth, Dutch researchers found that those who learned self-management measures from a physical therapist fared better than those given standard care.

Three months after delivery, they had less pain and fewer physical limitations, and had generally returned to work sooner than women in the standard-care group.

The findings, published in the online journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, suggest that learning how to deal with back pain in day-to-day life can be more useful to women than typical medical care.

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