Myofascial release in the treatment of lumbar pain in pregnant women

Abstract

The prevalence of back pain in pregnant women is quite high nowadays. A special place is given to myofascial pain. They progress with the course of pregnancy and can lead to a decrease in a woman’s quality of life. However, the issues of back pain treatment, including the selection of methods and doctors training, still remain unresolved. The aim of our work was to identify the effect of manual therapy (in particular, myofascial release) on the dynamics of pain syndrome in pregnant women with low back pain. Material and methods. The study involved 90 patients of the MIRT Medical Center (Krasnoyarsk) with myofascial lumbosacral pain syndrome at different gestation phases. We used myofascial release techniques and training device to retrained their muscular system. We evaluated the effectiveness of treatment by using a visual analog scale of pain, test with two scales (patented model) and manual muscle testing methods. Results and discussion. The average pain score was 5 points before treatment and 0.6 points after treatment. Pain completely disappeared in most patients after treatment. The maximum decrease in pain score showed women in the third trimester. The pathological difference in the load on the limbs after treatment was 17 times less than before treatment, for all trimesters in general. In the first trimester it was not detected at all. The study revealed correlation between the pain syndrome and positive sacroiliac ligament compression test. Conclusions. We have developed a general scheme for examination and treatment of back pain in pregnant using patented technologies and myofascial release technics. It has proven to be effective in reducing lower back pain at different gestation phases. Tension in the sacroiliac ligaments should be investigated in the future and taken into account for back pain treatment of pregnant women, as well as at pregnancy planning stage.