I heard that epidural leads to permanent back pain post delivery..is this true?

The belief that that epidural can cause prolonged and even chronic back pain is fairly common even among medical professionals. But epidural or not, back pain among pregnant women and after birth is common. There are several syndromes which have back pain as the main complaint. Most common is Gestational Back Pain (GBP), and it affects between 40-90% percent of all pregnant women. It is thought to be related to the relaxin, the hormone that is produced during pregnancy that loosens ligaments of the spine and pelvis and makes them more flexible. The side-effect of this is that the spine becomes less stable and more susceptible to straining. Moreover, changes in the biomechanics of a pregnant body can contribute to back pain - eg the heavy uterus causes the center of gravity to shift forward and as a result, the mommy-to-be has to lean back in order to keep the balance thus causing back pain in the long run. Sometimes the back pain may be caused by factors not related to pregnancy, such as protruding discs or osteoarthritis of the spine. You can read more about epidural and back pains here: http://www.allaboutepidural.com/epidural-and-back-pain

It depends on person to person. There are many of my friends who haven't taken epidural but still complain of back pain. And there is my SIL who took it but never had back pain because of this reason till date. Touchwood. I always used to hear that if you have C-Section then you will have lifelong back pain and many other things that does not happen in normal delivery. But (again Touchwood for myself), I am just fine. I think what all that depends is how your body system is, how ell you take care of yourself not only during before and after delivery but all through your life. And as far as back pain is associated with epidurals, I won't say that is all a lie but it also doesn't mean that you will surely have back issues if you go for epidural.

i had to get epidural for my pregnancy and my friend had it twice for both her babies, but neither she nor I had any back pain. i did have a little back pain for about 6 months after my baby was born, but it was not just because of epidural but also because i used to carry my baby a lot and did not have any help, which meant i had to do all the house work as well as take care of baby. i also could not take care of my nutrition and my sleeping position was also very erratic. many females experience back pain after an epidural, but it is not just because of the epidural but due to various other factors as well. https://www.coreconcepts.com.sg/article/does-labour-epidural-cause-chronic-backache/

I did not take up epidural for both of my deliveries. However, I do feel backpain at times and I think it could be due to my poor sleeping posture and bending too much when handling my kids. I have friends who took epidural do not experience backache at all after birth.

There is no medical link between epidural and post delivery backaches. Like Idza mentioned, backaches could possible be from the pregnancy. Imagine lugging around 2 bottles of coke all day, all night. It will surely take its toll on your body.

I have been having a chronic back pain prior the pregnancy, I feel that my back pain worsen after the birth. however I can't tell if it's from the epidural or the weight I carried being pregnant for so long.

no..depends on individual..i had epidural and i dont have backpains..now already 4 years

Yes I’ve had a couple and it’s not constant pain but sometimes it very painful

no I have had one c-section so far and had an epidural. no back pain just scar pain.

No back pain for me, the nurse said back pain isn't come because of epidural..