Several new situations a mother needs to cope with within the first few months after having a baby. Feeding the newborn every two hours, time to time diaper changes, finding a loyal helping hand, and treating guests at the same time new mommies handle a lot. Simultaneously, after-birth pain starts to make their body feel numb. While the focus is nurturing the baby, mothers tend to neglect those pains. Remember that only a healthy mother can raise a healthy baby. Therefore, a mother should take good care of herself.
Shoulder Pain while Breastfeeding
While feeding, mommies often use the same arm to carry the baby. During nursing at bedtime, they let the baby sleep on the same arm and sometimes stay in the same position all over the night. These kinds of continual stress create pressure on shoulder blades and often head to shoulder pain. Therefore, it has become a common illness in mothers who breastfed their children. Let us clear more specifically. We have a sac named Bursae near our arm joints loaded with air, liquid, and solids. When you carry your infant on the same arm repeatedly, your arm joint starts to swell. Shoulder ache or Bursitis happens because of these types of inflammations. Most commonly, it occurs among breastfeeding moms.
Reasons behind musculoskeletal pain among breastfeeding moms
Musculoskeletal pain mainly emerges in the neck, shoulders, arms, upper arm, wrist, and lower back. Sometimes these pains are related to physiological changes and sometimes related to nursing. Internal physiologic changes occur due to improper sitting and walking position or nursing around the back area. Sometimes ligament laxity is liable for these types of pain among women after pregnancy.
Sleep deprivation and stress also head to such types of pain. When moms are stressed, their breast milk supply decreases. Thus it takes more time to feed their baby, and they need to stay in one position for long. These situations often lead to back and shoulder pain.
How to Get Rid of Shoulder or Neck Pain while Nursing?
Try to do some regular movements and exercises like you used to do before pregnancy. A little exercise or walk can reduce the tendency of pain. This video will help you to alleviate muscular aches and pain caused by breastfeeding.
You can also contact a physical therapist to get training for exercises on managing pain without medications. Medicines often affect breastmilk supply. Thus, it is better not to consume pills. Physiotherapists suggest several exercises that are splendid to reduce shoulder aches in breastfeeding mothers.
Breastfeeding itself is very natural and calming. Do not worry much about if the baby is getting enough milk or not, why he is hungry again etc. Keeping stress 100 miles away will help to boost the milk supply. Whenever you feel stressed, take a deep breath and try to release the pressure. It will take less time to feed your baby. Do not wait until your baby starts crying due to hunger. It stresses more when you hear your child crying. Feed her regularly. Breastmilk leakage or sour breasts are common problems among breastfeeding moms. Make sure that you are using the right nursing pad.
Use back support while feeding. Use something to raise your baby at your breast level. Find the best breastfeeding pillow to get good support for your back.
Finally, if the tips written above do not work well, please consult with a doctor. Don’t take painkillers (like NSAIDs). Painkillers won’t give you a long-lasting solution.
