HELP - SPD/PGP symptoms 2 years post natal [sad]

[Brandnewbrighttomorrow]

Bit of background - history of minor back problems following riding injury and skiing injury, have been recently told I'm hyper mobile but not excessively so. Had 3 dc's in 5 years, SPd started towards end of first pregnancy, eased afterward, worse in second and pretty bad in third. Now 2 years on from last dc's delivery, I have been doing pilates for just over a year.

Getting really fed up with ongoing SPd symptoms - I stopped breastfeeding in january and had expected this all to have settled down by now - I waited until a couple of weeks ago to go and see a chiropractor so that my hormones would have had chance to settle down, she treated me and fitted me with a sacro belt and that had started to help but then injured myself carrying youngest dc. I have variously pain in one or other hips, coccyx and /or sciatic pain. If I walk for any distance I can expect to struggle to walk by the evening, one hip feels like it's giving way with a sudden sharp shock of nerve pain regularly while walking. chiropractor has suggested wearing belt for a month to allow ligaments to 'heal'

Haven't been to GP yet, is there anything they could do? is there anything else I can do to help resolve this (desperately hoping it will go away eventually)

Sorry I can't help, but I'm interested in replies.

I'm 2 yrs from delivery of 4th baby and I can't be on my feet for longer than 4 hours without pain. So, most days I am fine (because I sit regularly) but if we have a day out then I suffer quite badly for 2 days after. The pain actually takes my breath away sometimes.

I hope someone comes along with some advice.

A friend of mine suffered badly with this for several years after birth of her fourth child. It took the best part of a year but what finally worked for her was seeing a physiotherapist knowledgeable in these matters and learning how to isolate particular muscles and work on them.

The biggest change she said came when she started to work on the different muscle groups in particular her stomach and bum.

She had been working on it all along but once she was working with this physio she realised she hadn't really been doing the exercises to the fullest as she didn't really know how.

She also stopped sitting on the floor cross legged, and got rid of older footwear that had been worn while she was walking off balance IYSWIM

I can ask her for any other tips if anyone is interested.

Thanks for the responses. I had no idea sitting cross legged is a bad idea, i do it every morning while drying hair and multiple times a day while playing with youngest dc. The pilates is helping a lot with my stomach muscles, the problems I was having with my back have been resolved by that. However my pelvis is still unstable which is i think what i causing the ongoing pain.

anyone else?

My sacro-illiac joint "went" 2 wks before I had dc1, had physio for 8m but the only thing the lady did that worked was ultrasound and it was a godsend. I have no idea though if this could be performed for spd as I'm not sure if they can be treated in the same way. I had spd with dc2 but it fortunately went shortly after birth, I sympathise

yep i have spd as well, tbh its much better now but after my first child it was awful, i found that gentle exercise and improving my core muscles helped, so pilates will do that i think? i swam regularly as well and that helped :)

and yes sitting with your legs crossed is really bad!! so STOP! i still cant do that now, and i also cant sleep on my side or my pelvis hurts. walking long distances is not always good, i find it worse if am walking up or down hill, even if its only a slight gradiant.

on the whole mine is fine, more niggly than awfully painful but it does flare up, esp when i get my period, hormones i guess?

oh and wearing tight jeans helps, anything that helps hold your pelvis more steady basically :)

Wearing the sacro belt is certainly holding my pelvis in place, sadly makes me look like a sausage while I'm in it

yes i found that as well and tbh it wasnt that comfortable and in the summer i found it got sweaty so i found tight jeans better, but that was just me.

it is really important to watch your positioning of your legs so when you pick up put down children etc NO crouching and spreading your pelvis wide, get them to climb up onto a chair or a sofa and lift them from waist height is better. also when loading the washing machine again no squating down, get the kids to do it!

when getting up of chairs,the bed etc keep your knees together.

oh and most modern sofas are CRAP for spd btw, not helpful i know but if you can sit comfortable with your bum/back at the back of your sofa and have your feet flat on the floor its probably not doing your pelvis any good, again knees together no curling up with your legs crossed etc, that is all BAD for your pelvis :( i was lucky enough to see a surgeon and physio who specialised in spd, they gave me loads of info and tips the problem is being good and following their advice.....looks down and uncrosses legs...ooops!

Knees together? Not good news for mrbrandnew

indeed its not! but there are ways round that

thank you for the top tips, I can see i'm not helping myself as I'm inadvertantly doing all the things I'm not meant to

I'm in to see gp next week for one of the dc's, think I will mention ongoing issues when there and see what reaction is. I've only been assessed by chiropractor post natally (saw physio when pregnant which was no help whatsoever) so don't know what might be available via nhs.

So why is squatting bad?

because it opens the pelvis up really wide, which is why they recomend it for birth! but thats not so good when you have an unstable pelvis taht is essentially often opening up too much.

and its very hard to stop doing these things, i still do them, you really have to THINK about how you are moving and moniter yourself, that doesnt come naturally.

and itsjust pot luck re nhs my consultant and physio were on nhs but just totaly luck they were local to me and specialised in spd its something alot of physios dont know much about, or esle women get told its just normal when pregnant or after having a baby, its tno!

Thanks 5madthings, I really appreciate your help x

I did try to stick to the knee together thing when I was pregnant, tbh it hadn't dawned on me that I should still be doing it now. I'm so used to it being a problem that I'm probably doing all sorts of things i shouldn't.

I could have written your post OP! A few months ago, when my DD2 turned two, I decided that I had had enough and have started seeing a great physio. It has made a world of difference. She does a bit of hands on treatment, but the main benefit was her showing me some gentle core strengthening exercises and starting to sit on a physio ball instead of the sofa. She said that pilates is good, but a lot of it is too advanced if you have an injury, which is basically the case with SPD. So try and find a good physio who understands the problem (my physio had it in her pregnancies and it was such a relief to not have to explain it to her) and I hope it makes the difference for you that it has for me.