An Approach of Pregnant Women with Low Back Pain

Low back pain represents a common problem among the general population and a frequent complaint during pregnancy. We included in the study a number of 15 women (mean age 33.4 +/- 2.6 years) during the second and third trimester of pregnancy (between 15th and 28th weeks of gestation). The patients presented different degrees of low back pain. They have followed an individualised rehabilitation programme for two weeks (3 sessions per week). Physical therapy consisted in massage, thermotherapy (heat) and physical exercise. In the last session all study patients received application of taping (muscular-ligament method) on the lumbar area. The patients were assessed for back pain using the 10-unit colour Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at the beginning of the study and after two weeks. The pain decreased significantly after the physical therapy programme (VAS(initial) = 7.3 +/- 2.1; VAS(final) =3.8 +/- 0.66; p<0.001). The rehabilitation programme should be supervised and individualized to each woman gestational age and functional status. This conservative method can have satisfactory results when referring to pain relief and quality of life.