Expectations: Your Period with Existing Back Pain
Inflammation
Inflammation is the immune system's response to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, toxic compounds, or irradiation, and acts by removing injurious stimuli and initiating the healing process. Inflammation is therefore a defense mechanism that is vital to health *1
Bloating
Bloating may occur before or during one’s period due to the changes in the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. According to an article from the Medical News Today’s website, the reduced progesterone during bleeding may cause water retention that causes cells in the body to become swollen with water.
Abdominal pressure
This is one of those magical aides to back pain, as the more you learn to stabilize your trunk efficiently the better your back will feel and over time it will function on it’s own without the need to be as hyper aware of it. If you imagined a ballon in a box, as you inhale the pressure disperses around the internal walls to put pressure into the upper organs, and as your exhale it reverses so that it becomes pressure lower and contraction in the upper body.
Discs
Now comes the combination of the above pieces. Knowing that the spine is flexible and able to move in flexion, rotation, extension and combinations of those. The included inflammation of a disc already dealing with an injury with the added on inflammation from periods, bloating and the added abdominal pressure in the thoracic cavity are all working in this moment. This is usually when I tell clients that you may experience back pain again after our sessions despite feeling fine otherwise.
Methods we incorporate in pilates
Often times these are the moments sessions return back to basic movements to prevent an increase in recurring symptoms. As well as suggested ways to reduce pain and or bloating at home for the days between sessions. Of course over the next few months of continued sessions that reduce symptoms the basic exercises will change to fit your body in that moment.
Take away is that knowing your body is functioning in other ways during this time can mean that your period symptoms may change with your back pain/disc herniations.