Postnatal hip and back pain, how much is normal and how long to put up with it before going to the GP

[Ratfans]

I had terrible hip and back pain when pregnant with DS.

Thing is he is now 6 months old and it still hasn't gone. I'm still breastfeeding so I may have lingering pregnancy hormones (?)

It's mainly my right hip, but also low back pain. My stomach muscle are trashed after 2 pregnancies and 3 abdominal ops so that at probably doesn't help. And I'm still about 10 pounds heavier than I was pre-pregnancy and this probably adds to things.

It's starting to really affect my life as I can't carry DS without pain now he's heavier and I can't use the sling. I find sitting on the floor to play with him, or bending down really painful. I'm uncomfortable at night as well, but it doesn't affect my sleep (could sleep through a hurricane ATM!).

Anyone else had this? Any self help tips? I'm pretty sure there's not much the GP can do for this sort of thing anyway. Is it worth going anyway?

You need physio. You'll get exercises to do and advice on how to avoid making it worse. It's definitely worth doing something about, it's a horrible thing to have to deal with.

please google for julie tupler - she has a video on the website of how to close a diastasis or split abdominal muscles.

Also, hormone levels (as far I experienced) are still coursing through your blood, and can leave things like ligaments looser. You have my sympathy as I struggled for years after my DS was born, everything was soft and my pelvic region was loose and very painful.

try not to do moves that will end up hurting, or if it is painful to do it - don't do it.

if you can watch your alignment, at all times - even when sleeping - I had to sleep upright for over a year after my son was born, and most of this was to make sure my pelvis stayed in alignment.........

Good luck, you could try chiropractor, or rolfing (amazing!) to assist in your alignment. Physio may also help, but the rolfing addresses area of the body which have become over tightned due to compensating for injuries etc.

You need physio, and some painkillers. Anti-inflammatories will have to wait until you stop bf. Stopping bf may help - it certainly helped me - but the evidence for this is mixed although all the physios/osteos/GPs and MW I saw agreed that bf prolongs the hormones and thus the laxity of the ligaments which cause much of the hip/pelvic instability and pain.

You also need post-natal pilates with a decent teacher. In fact what the physio recommends is likely to be post-natal pilates exercises. You need to build the muscles around your pelvis so that the muscles hold the joints in place.