Pregnancy drastically changes your daily life. Along with significant bodily impacts, it calls for many lifestyle changes and limitations. However, not everything must come to a halt. One of the most commonly questioned activities in this category is exercise. Whether or not you exercised regularly before your pregnancy, it is helpful to engage in physical activity during the prenatal period. Getting involved in prenatal PT in NYC with H&D Physical Therapy can help support your body as it goes through many changes.
Exercising While Pregnant
While your baby’s health is a priority, you must also consider your well-being. Exercise is a great way to do so while pregnant. It maintains your health, helps alleviate common pains, reduces fatigue, and relieves stress. Starting prenatal PT in NYC can help with pain, bladder and bowel issues, and muscle imbalances. So, not only are you keeping your baby safe, but you are bringing about physical and mental benefits for yourself!
Safe Exercises
Just as you should be following your doctor’s instructions on what to eat and how to suit your lifestyle to support your baby, you should also stick to only safe exercises for the prenatal period. This list may vary based on your medical situation and how often you exercised before pregnancy, but here are some generally safe exercises to engage in:
- Swimming
- Walking
- Stationary cycling
- Other low-impact aerobic activities
Unsafe Exercises
With restrictions on which exercises are deemed safe, there remains a list of activities that should be avoided during pregnancy, for they may cause harm. These include:
- Contact sports
- Activities with a risk of falling
- Activities including bouncing or jumping
- Sports that require rapid movements
- Anything that requires holding your breath
If unsure if an activity is safe for you, contact your doctor before trying it. It is always best to be extra cautious than put yourself and your baby in a dangerous situation. Finding a provider for prenatal PT in NYC is a great first step in ensuring a safe and tailored exercise journey for your pregnancy.
Safety While Exercising
With all of the potential benefits of exercising in the prenatal period, some risks come with doing unadvised activities. Contacting your health care provider and regularly checking in with them is essential. They can help plan an exercise program that best supports your health based on your health and medical history. Here are some conditions that may call for a more restrictive plan or no exercise:
- Asthma
- Type 1 diabetes
- Heart disease
- Any obstetric condition
- Anemia
- Seizure disorder
- Hyperthyroidism
- Chronic bronchitis
- Obesity/underweight
H&D Physical Therapy: Prenatal PT in NYC
It is also important to consider lifestyle characteristics, such as being very passive or smoking. You may not know of any health issues caused by such activities, but telling your doctor as much information as possible is the key to properly planning any exercise. If you are cleared to engage in physical activity, there are tips to having a healthy and successful session. These include:
- Avoid exercising in the heat
- Stretch adequately
- Drink plenty of water
- Eat enough calories
- Wear proper footwear
- Never overexert yourself
- Stop exercising if you feel pain, dizziness, or any other changes to your body
Contact Us For Prenatal PT in NYC
If you are pregnant, you should consider getting started on an exercise program. For prenatal PT in NYC, H&D Physical Therapy has a team trained in Women’s Health ready to start you on a preventative program. We can create a plan and guide you through stretches and exercises tailored to you. Contact us to book an appointment.
Many pregnant women wonder whether or not physical therapy is safe for them during pregnancy, and the answer is yes. Pregnancy is accompanied by a myriad of symptoms and side effects, many of which can be helped through physical therapy. One thing many women experience while pregnant is back pain which can be helped with physical therapy. Prenatal physical therapy can help the body adjust to the changes it is going through. Many women also go to pelvic physical therapy during pregnancy. Physical therapy while pregnant can be helpful to the changing body; with the increase in hormones, change in center of gravity, and weight gain comes to a lot of pain. When searching for prenatal PT in NYC, H&D Physical Therapy is the place to go.
Reasons you may go to Physical Therapy while Pregnant
- Abdominal Pain
- Separation of abdominal muscles
- Lower back, groin, or pelvic pain
- Trouble urinating or defecating
- Muscle spasms
- Weak Core
- Pain with intercourse
Prenatal physical therapy does not only need to be done when the pain arises; preventative prenatal physical therapy can help the body avoid injury. By getting ahead of the pain, you keep your chances of pain starting or getting worse to a minimum. Prenatal PT in NYC helps women keep their bodies as pain-free as possible during pregnancy.
Prenatal physical therapy can even be done up until the third trimester and can help women prepare for giving birth. While physical therapy can treat a wide range of issues, prenatal physical therapy works on posture, flexibility, strength, and joint alignment to reduce overall pain. Prenatal PT in NYC is a great way to help your body adjust to the changes it is going through.
Prenatal PT in NYC
If you’re looking for a prenatal PT in NYC, H&D Physical Therapy is the best option. With specialties in pelvic pain and pregnancy care, H&D Physical Therapy gives top-of-the-line care in prenatal physical therapy. At H&D Physical Therapy, pregnant women are treated by physical therapists who are trained in women’s health. We also offer postpartum physical therapy to keep helping you even after giving birth. We have multiple locations throughout New York City, making our care accessible to everyone. Contact us and schedule an appointment today.
Who can benefit from Pregnancy and Postpartum Physical Therapy?
Physical Therapy during the prenatal period can help address changes in posture, joint mobility, muscle imbalances, and bony alignment which may develop as a result of the physical and hormonal changes of pregnancy. After giving birth (generally 3-6 weeks after, with your MD/OB approval) an evaluation by a specialized Physical Therapist can help prevent long-term impairments in bowel and bladder function, and restore efficient mobility and muscular function. Muscle and joint aches and pains during or after pregnancy can also be addressed by our qualified specialists.
Symptoms during or after pregnancy which may be helped by Physical Therapy include:
- Bowel or bladder issues including difficulty voiding, incontinence, urgency, and frequency
- Pain during or after intercourse
- Unusual heaviness in the lower abdomen or perineum
- Abdominal pain
- Pain with urination or defecation
- Low back pain, groin pain, tailbone pain, SI joint pain
- Neck pain, wrist pain, arm pain, shoulder pain
- Pain at episiotomy or Cesarean scar
- Core weakness
- Muscle spasms
Diagnoses we treat include:
- Coccydynia (Tailbone Pain)
- Sacroiliac dysfunction (SI Joint Pain)
- Sciatica
- Pubic Symphysis pain or separation
- Urinary Incontinence, Overactive Bladder, Urinary Hesitancy, Urinary Retention
- Constipation or Incomplete voiding, Fecal Incontinence
- Abdominal Pain and/or Surgical Adhesions
- Pelvic Organ Prolapse: Cystocele, Uterocele, Rectocele, Enterocele
- Diastasis Recti
- Nerve dysfunction including Pudendal Neuralgia and Sciatica
- Carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, thoracic outlet syndrome, cervicalgia
What is preventative treatment during pregnancy / prenatal care?
Preventative physical therapy during pregnancy may include stretching and strengthening exercises, balance and stabilization exercises, postural education, review of body mechanics to avoid strain and injury, exercises and manual therapy to improve diaphragmatic breathing, and the recommendation of splints or support belts as needed. During your third trimester, manual therapy, exercises and stretches can help you prepare to give birth.
What is Prenatal PT in NYC?
Changes in hormone levels, muscle tone, and joint alignment can persist postpartum. Your physical therapist will evaluate your posture, strength, mobility, movement patterns, pelvic muscles, and pelvic organs. Together you will develop a personalized recovery plan which may include soft tissue mobilization and myofascial release of the pelvic floor muscles and surrounding structures, abdominal massage, visceral mobilization, scar mobilization, postural re-education, review of body mechanics and moving with your baby, nutritional education, and exercises for core and pelvic floor muscle coordination.
Who treats Women’s Health at H&D Physical Therapy?
Assessment and treatment are performed by Physical Therapists specially trained in Women’s Health. If you are pregnant or recently postpartum, schedule an appointment to start a preventative program today.
Elaine Borja-Jaffe PT, DPT, Cert. MDT, WCS
If you have questions regarding treatments available, or whether PT is appropriate for you, please contact us. We would be happy to discuss your situation in advance of an evaluation session.