EFFECTS OF 8-WEEK STABILIZATION EXERCISES ON PELVIC GIRDLE AND LOW BACK PAIN AMONG PREGNANT FEMALES

BACKGROUND AND AIM 90% of pregnant female suffer with low back and pelvic girdle pain during the course of pregnancy. This study is aimed to determine the efficacy of stabilization exercises in the pregnant female in order to improve their compliance in activities of daily living (ADL's), with the reduction in the pain intensity. METHODOLOGY A Quasi-experimental study was conducted at the out-patient physical therapy department of tertiary care hospital. 89 pregnant female participated and evaluated twice, both before and after treatment. Stabilization exercises were performed including a 10 minute warm up session followed by 40 minutes of circuit training. Circuit training consisted of two phases, phase 1 comprised of muscular exercises while phase 2 consists of cardiovascular exercises followed by a cool down session of 10 minutes RESULTS Results showed significant reduction (p<0.05) in pain scores on VAS where the median scores of the pain was reduced to 3 post treatment from 6 pretreatment and functional mobility of women on pregnancy mobility index with mean of 15.12±3.88 was improved to 8.54±3.13 CONCLUSIONS Stabilization exercise helped in reducing pregnancy related Low back pain and showed great improvement in physical activities in the participant which improved the quality of life.