This time, we'll talk about postpartum and runners.
Do women experience muscle pain or discomfort in their muscles after giving birth?
Some people take care of themselves before and after childbirth, such as correcting their pelvic floor and posture, but it seems that not a few experience muscle-related problems.
However, there are many people who experience muscle-related problems. However, when it comes to doing something about these problems, I often hear people say that they were too busy raising their children to do so.
The study I am going to introduce focuses on postpartum and running, and investigates what abnormalities occur in the musculoskeletal system, which I think medical professionals can refer to.
Contents of the study
Postpartum runners have been reported to have musculoskeletal pain associated with running.Due to the lack of sufficient research, little is known about the origins and pain-related classifications.
Through expert consensus, this study is said to be the first attempt to understand the musculoskeletal disorders presented by these runners.
The purpose of this study was to gather expert consensus on the characteristics of the disorders reported in postpartum runners with musculoskeletal pain.
A web-based Delphi survey was conducted and consisted of five categories.
Strength, Range of Motion, Alignment, Impaired Flexibility, and Risk Factors for Pain in Postpartum Runners.
A total of 117 experts were convened, with 45 experts completing Round I and 41 completing Rounds II and III.
The strength impairments that reached consensus were abdominal, hip, and pelvic floor muscle weakness.Range of motion impairments that reached consensus were limited hip extension, anterior pelvic tilt, and general hypermobility.
Consensus alignment deficits included Trendelenburg's sign, dynamic knee valgus, lumbar kyphosis, excessive rotation, and thoracic kyphosis.
Consensus flexibility deficits included laxity of the abdominal wall and tightness of the hip flexors, lumbar extensors, iliotibial ligaments and knee tendons.
Risk factors for postpartum runner's pain included muscle imbalance, poor hip and pelvic control, early return to work, stress, pain during pregnancy, and pelvic floor trauma.
Discussion
The results analyzed in this study were not of the highest quality, which means that there is a need to determine what is important in clinical practice.
According to the researchers, some cases may require activation of the hips and pelvic area, while others may need to improve hip flexibility. This was thought to be the case.
In terms of alignment, there is no difference in the results of Trendelenburg's sign, dynamic knee deflection, lumbar kyphosis, excessive rotation, and thoracic kyphosis as mentioned above.
Although biomechanics and other factors need to confirm the above points, the risk factors cited as reasons for injury in postpartum runners are
Muscle imbalance
Poor hip and pelvic control
Stress
Early return to work
Pain during pregnancy
Pelvic floor trauma
According to the text of the study, stress, early return to work, and pelvic floor trauma are the priority risk factors, so health care providers cannot ignore these factors.
However, the quality of the evidence for these data is not high, so there is much to be confirmed in clinical practice.
Christopher SM, Garcia AN, Snodgrass SJ, Cook C. Common musculoskeletal impairments in postpartum runners: an international Delphi study. Physiother. 2020;10:19. published 2020 Oct 26. doi:10.1186/s40945-020-00090-y
Conclusion
These are the risks of musculoskeletal disorders when returning to competition after childbirth.
As I have written many times, the evidence of the data obtained is low, so it is natural to have different results in clinical practice, but there will be a difference in the information obtained during counseling between those who are aware of these things and those who are not.
There is a dearth of literature that focuses on postpartum women, so I thought I would share some of the information that I found helpful.
