Still got SPD a year after childbirth. Anyone else?

[PixieCake]

Can anyone help me?

It is almost a WHOLE YEAR since I gave birth and I am still suffering with SPD/PGP.

I have had numerous physio appointments, seen an orthopedic surgeon, had an MRI scan and done pilates. My GP says we are at the end of the road and nothing else can be done.

What else can I do?

Is anyone else still in this situation and how on earth are you coping?

I had it for ages after dd2 was born. After 3 years I was finally able to hoover without pain

Hi. I had SPD and could hardly walk at all during pregnancy. It felt loads better straight after having my DD and I thought for a while I was cured, but it turned out just to be the contrast between how bad it was during pregnancy and how much better it was with the baby out!
I saw an ospteopath for as long as I could afford it after having my DD and it def helped.
But I still suffered until recently - DD is two next week. I was overweight and I have lost 6 stone in the last year and a half that has made the biggest difference of all.
I remember trying to carry my DD in a sling and as soon as I put it on it was like I was back to the SPD I had in pregnancy. So mine personally was aggravated by extra weight. I knda know I still have it, the way my body feels like it's never compleatly recovered from pregnancy but at the ame time I am not suffering just now.
good luck. You have all my sympathy, it's horrible and debiltating.

Hi girls, Please can I ask whether you had natural births? I am 30 weeks and going into panic mode. I have SPD since about 20 weeks and has got steadily worse. Physio, acupuncture, crutches and support belt don't help and I am getting really down about being in pain all the time. I have seen 4 doctors and 2 midwives, all have given me different advice about pain killers. The last lot they gave me sent me loopy and my baby didn't move for 12 hours... so I have stopped taking them. Now I am so scared about further damage during birth. I asked about a c-section and they said no. I am just getting myself in such a state about it (probably hormonal)...

Hi bean82! From what I have read it does resolve for most people after birth. Consider that there is usually an imbalance on the forces acting on your pelvis. This could be a tight muscle or a stiff joint or something like your legs being slightly different lengths. In your pre pregnant self this didn't matter because you pelvis acted like a nice solid block. Now you are pregnant the hormones that make your ligaments relax have worked (which needs to happen to get baby out), but your pelvis is now acting in separate sections (or halves) instead of as solid. The imbalance cause one section to move relative to the other, giving the classic pain at the front, or top of buttock, especially when transferring weight from one leg to the other.

Hands on physical treatment (Physio, osteo or chiro) can help when the imbalance is due to a tight muscle(s) or stiff joint(s). A non elastic hip belt like the serola belt can help do the job your ligaments were doing before in holding your pelvis together. Strengthening your transverse abdominal muscle (by effectively sucking in your bump, pulling tummy button towards spine), and really working your pelvic floor muscles help your muscles take over the job that was previously being done by your ligaments.

What happens to your hormones after birth will affect how itvresolves, for some people SPD remains while breastfeeding, and some people will have recurrence when pre-menstrual/ menstrual. In general cutting through your abdominal muscles will not help you after birth.

Avoid having your legs up in stirrups if possible, and if necessary getting them to lift your legs both together. Determine your pain free knee separation, and mark a bit of string or ribbon, make your birth partner responsible for not letting your knees get put further apart. Standing leaning forward resting on bed, being on all fours and kneeling are all birth positions to consider.