>Hi Marie--
>An acquaintance of mine who was nursing her 2 years + daughter wound up with
>very severe lower back problems recently. Her physio (who is also a nursing
>mother) told her the hormones of lactation could be aggravating the problem,
>so the mother weaned (it was the good excuse she had been looking for). I'll
>be interested in what others have to say about this.

>Leslie Ayre-Jaschke
>Peace River, Alberta, Canada

I am not sure what hormone is involved but I think it may be prolactin? I
have a neck and back injury that my physio and I have been working on
through breastfeeding one child, weaning, getting pregnant and now
breastfeeding another child.

There were definite differences in my flexibilty and connective tissue
tightness through out these different states. Pregnancy made all tissues
much looser and therefore it was harder to stabilize a cervical vertebrae
that likes to rotate out at times. Nursing is an inbetween stage. Being
non pregnant and non lactating meant I got very tight and had a lot more
trouble when it did come out in getting it back in. It was a lot harder
to do my stretches then also.

My physio feels that I will get to a certain point while still
breastfeeding and then we will have to do the final strengthening after I
wean. At this point I can still afford to see her regularly and would not
consider weaning. It just means I have to do my exercises religiously
twice a day or I suffer.

Karen Cunningham MD, CCFP
London
email at [log in to unmask]