Horse riding during pregnancy

I always thought I would carry on horse riding during pregnancy for as long as I physically could. Lots of my friends have ridden quite happily until they physically couldn’t get on or off, and even one who rode out the day before she gave birth.

I’m lucky enough to have a pretty sensible horse and I have never worried about my safety on him.

Mr M had different ideas – he really wasn’t keen on me riding while pregnant. Overall, he has desperately tried to wrap me in cotton wool for 40 weeks and I have equally desperately tried to resist it and carry on as normally as I possibly could.

I’ve always been quite an active and busy person and the thought of sitting at home doing nothing for months on end made me want to cry or scream. Or both…

So (and don’t worry I have admitted this to him already), when Mr M went away skiing when I was about 11 weeks pregnant, I went out riding a few times. As expected, Ben was as good as gold for the first few times. But then on the last ride, he was a bit fresh and was jogging on the way home. Nothing really naughty, but it did make me realise that I now had someone else to think about.

Then I swung my leg over the saddle, dismounted and when I hit the floor, the bolt of pain through my lower back was indescribable. Ben’s jogging had tweaked something.

I’ve suffered with back problems a number of times. I can’t tell you the exact medical term, but the muscles go into spasm and I can barely move for days, sometimes weeks on end, requiring a chiropractor and acupuncture to get me straight and pain free again.

I hobbled home from the stables, realising that probably the extra weight, stretching tendons and change in balance while riding was likely to aggravate my back and begrudgingly admitted I would need to give up riding.

A recent study from Deep Freeze revealed that 26 per cent of pregnant women exercise twice a week, with a further 16 per cent exercising once a week. However, of the 36 per cent of those who choose not to exercise, 20 per cent choose not to due to back pain. So I’m not the only one.

I’ve tried to keep active as much as possibleduring my pregnancy, but I must admit that there has been a lot of times that my back has been too achy to do much at all, especially in the last trimester.

I was recently sent some Deep Freeze Pain Relief Cold Patches to use and they have been a godsend. I’ve probably only taken paracetamol (all you are allowed during pregnancy) a couple of times since we found out I was pregnant, as I really wanted to avoid drugs, but if I had taken something every time I was in pain, I probably would have taken them every day.

With back pain affecting three out of four mums to be, the Deep Freeze Pain Relief Cold Patch offers initial, effective drug-free pain relief from muscular back pain during pregnancy (Always check new symptoms with your midwife), just like an ice pack, and provides long-lasting cold analgesia to the site of pain.

The adhesive patch is applied simply and easily, and doesn’t restrict movement or need to be replaced frequently to maintain the cooling effect. You can see loads of useful tips on their Facebook page too.

I had tried a heat patch before I found these, but with my internal temperature similar to a radiator at the moment, it made for a dreadful night’s sleep and I ended up taking it off after an hour or so. But I can leave the deep freeze patches on all day without a worry and when my back starts to seize up, they really do help relieve it.

Sadly, since finding the patches I’m too big to get back in the saddle, but they have enabled me to get out walking and swimming again and I feel so much better for it.

 

Disclosure

I’m working with BritMums and Deep Freeze Pain Relief Cold Patch, writing about pregnancy and muscular back pain. I was provided Deep Freeze Pain Relief Cold Patch and have been compensated for my time. All editorial and opinions are my own. Visit http://deepfreeze.co.uk/your-pain/muscular-back-pain-in-pregnancy/ for more information.