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Childbirth

Wonderment re spinal/epidural

11 replies

Kweaver90 · 29/07/2014 19:59

Hi fellow mums Smile

During my birth I only used gas and air and birthing pool but I suffered a 3rd degree tear so then had to go to theatre and have a spinal (was gutted about this as you can probably imagine) Sad

My DD is now 2 months old and I suffer with pain in my back where the surgeon put the needle in for my spinal. I mentioned this at our post natal check and my dr told me it is normal and nothing to worry about, however when I have spoken to fellow mum friends who had epidurals some said they haven't had the same problem and some have so and a little confused. Confused

Have any of you got/had the same problem following spinal or epidural?

Any help would be much appreciated Thanks

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singlespeedlass · 30/07/2014 13:14

I had an epidural when my son was born 2 months ago and had a very similar sounding pain at the needle site. GP said nothing to do with epidural, just coincidence (which I didn't believe). Wore off after a few months.

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fledermaus · 30/07/2014 13:17

I had a bruised feeling for some weeks after an epidural, but now 5 months later it doesn't hurt at all.

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Kweaver90 · 30/07/2014 20:34

Thank you both for your help with this. Hopefully it will wear off in a few months Smile

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TurquoiseDress · 30/07/2014 21:34

Yes when my LO was born 6 months I had a spinal, definitely remember some soreness in my back but can't say for sure this was due to the spinal tho I reckon it was.

It had worn off/I no longer noticed it within a week or so.

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frankiebuns · 31/07/2014 21:15

My ds is 3 I had an epidural for 11 hours I now have fibromyalgia they won't say it was and coincidence it happened but def at same time my life will never be the same again I'm in constant pain etc I'm ruined at 25!

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Ladyhaha · 31/07/2014 21:26

I had an epidural with my first and a spinal block with my second. I had a weakness at the base of my spine and back pain for a year after both births. It doesn't help that you carry a car seat, baby, shopping, folded up pram etc so I think it's partly the spinal and partly having to lug so much stuff around!

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Jcb77 · 03/08/2014 23:14

Back pain is very common after having a baby. It's just as common with and without anything having been put in your back. During pregnancy your ligaments soften so don't support your back so well. During labour with an epidural or with a spinal you can get into positions that strain your back a bit and because you can't feel it, you don't move as you normally would. Afterwards, there's a lot of unaccustomed lifting/straining/twisting and sitting in unusual positions to feed for long periods of time. All of this contributes to back pain.
You can expect to feel a bit bruised in the skin for a few days post procedure, especially if it was tricky to get in, but long term backache due to spinal/epidural is really very uncommon.
Things to strengthen your core muscles, such as Pilates, and back care with lifting etc can all help.

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Jcb77 · 03/08/2014 23:19

Frankie - epidurals don't cause fibromyalgia. Thousands of people have them for all sorts of reasons and thousands of people don't get fibromyalgia. Likewise thousands of people have fibro who've never had an epidural! It's coincidence. A lot of unusual things happened to you the day you had the epidural, including the massive changes leading up to labour and labour itself. And then the getting back to normal afterwards. The epidural was a tiny part of a very big process. Just because they happened in a similar time frame doesn't make one cause the other!!

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Artistic · 03/08/2014 23:45

I developed a splitting headache immediately after the epidural wore off & it took 48 hours for any medication to work to make it better. Ever since I've suffered migraines. Not sure if it is a pregnancy coincidence or due to the epidural or completely unrelated. What I was told is the puncture was incorrectly done & hence caused me headaches. I have heard of others suffering long te back issues. Unfortunately I think it's a bit of a hit & miss when it comes to epidural long term side effects. Some lucky women have none!

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Jcb77 · 06/08/2014 22:40

Artistic - 1% of women have a post dural puncture headache after an epidural. Can be evil but usually sorts itself out after about 5-7 days. If not, there is a procedure that can help. Very very rarely you can get long term complications. I don't think migraine is one of them though. Not classical migraine anyway.

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SweetPea3 · 08/08/2014 14:11

I don't remember having any pain in my back at the epidural site however it may have been overshadowed by pain from tear and stitches

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