Still have PGP one year after birth

[Heretobeanon]

I was previously very active, was a member of a running club, trained for 10ks and half marathons.

I developed PGP very early in my pregnancy and, one year after the birth, I am still suffering with pubic bone pain and having monthly physiotherapy. I am extremely depressed about this and concerned about the long term effects not being able to run/exercise is having on my health.

Did anyone else have PGP that lingered, and did it eventually go?

Hi OP, I’m in the same boat, 7 months on having seen a chiro and a women’s health physio, the pgp is still there

im quite active and do lots of yoga and physio - I feel like they’ve helped me strengthen my body and strengthened my core but the pgp pain is the same. Sorry to hear you are still have the same issue. Are you breastfeeding?

Mine lingered (from 2nd pregnancy, not so much first) for a good 2 years, but drastically improved after seeing an osteopath weekly for about 6 months, using one of those donut seat cushions, and doing daily yoga/Pilates.

I would say I'm now back to normal 90% of the time but certain chairs will trigger the tailbone pain, or over exertion.

I had it for a very long time before being diagnosed with hyper mobility and having lots of physio and sports massage. 12 years on and I am fine. I agree with the other poster, core exercises and strengthening the supporting muscles is massively important as is making sure you aren't sitting twisted, standing up evenly on both legs, not locking your knees back and crushing the nerves in the SI joints at the back.

I ignored it for ages and had quite severe pain for years but I can assure you, mine has gone.

Bizarre. Posted this a month ago, and suddenly have replies! @Boshi I breastfed until 6 months, but my DS is almost 14 months now.

I seem to be stuck at 70% improvement from when PGP was at its peak during pregnancy, but still not fully recovered. Everyday walking is fine, but any attempt at something more strenuous (running or hiking) results in pain in my groin muscles and pubic bone which then takes a week or so to calm down.

Have you seen more than one physio?

I ask because my 'pgp' was misdiagnosed as SPD and turned out to be something entirely different, diagnosed by a different physio. Mine was a simple case of a very knotty muscle but the pain and debilitation it caused was remarkable.

@ItsNotReallyChaos how did you deal with the knotty muscles? I know ‘stripping’ the knotted muscles in sports massage can really help with chronic pain but how do you do that with the deep muscles in the back, core and glutes?

interesting re osteopath, I have seen a chiro and women’s health physio which have helped with temp pain relief but haven’t really dealt with the problem permanently

Hi, mine went and then came back when my son was one and I foolishly carried a buggy up some steps. I am posting because mine stopped when my son was reliably walking and I stopped pushing a buggy. If you are not already I would say minimise carrying baby ie not outside, and check you have the best buggy for you ie handles the right height for you.

@Boshi Mine was in my glutes but was creating issues with my lower back as it was so tight (I literally couldn't bend down to pick anything up from the floor, could barely walk upstairs etc. I lived alone and my parents ended up coming to stay because I couldn't pick things up that were lower than knee height etc.).

The physio massaged it out. After the first session I was able to walk out of the clinic almost normally but there was still tightness there but after a couple more sessions plus a lot of rolling around on a spiky ball at home to break it down I was good as new and by the time DD arrived I was fine to manage her, push the pushchair etc.

No just the one physio, but she worked as an NHS physio at a women's health centre for donkey's years before going private, and the consensus seems to be that she's the best in my area for PGP issues.

@Heretobeanon Hi, I’ve just found this thread looking for advice on PGP. I’m 26 weeks and am struggling to walk more than 15mins. Before I was pregnant I was running 2-3 times a week. My midwife recommended a charity called the pelvic partnership- there is a lot of really helpful information on their website I would recommend having a look. They also have a list of recommended physios who specialise in PGP. It sounds like from their website it is very misunderstood even by NHS physios. I’ve been referred to my local NHS physio but feeling quite sceptical so far as it’s a group online session whereas the charity say the only real fix is a manual treatment from a physio.

Morning!
How is your diet? The physical repairs your body needs to make require protein and healthy fats, vitamins and minerals etc.
Interesting fact, fasting promotes autophagy, bodily repair at cellular level.

Research keto and intermittent fasting, I have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence that it helps with injuries.

Hi, back here almost a year on still with PGP.
How are you getting on OP? @Heretobeanon

Its really getting me down, my posture, gait everything has aged about 10 years and I feel 20 years older 🤔

@Boshi , I ended up paying privately for three prolotherapy injections, which has largely sorted it (I am even able to run again).

I still need to be careful, and I am liable to the occasional twinge if I lift something very heavy, but I am basically back to 98% after the prolotherapy. I am now just really pissed off that the course of three prolotherapy injections set me back £1,500 (as it's not offered as a treatment for PGP on the NHS).

The effects of prolotherapy can wear off after a few years, too, so there's a risk that I might have to shell out for it again at some point.

@Heretobeanon I’ve never heard of prolotherapy will look into it, thank you.

Is it a general recommendation for pgp or are there certain indications that mean it’s more likely to be successful? Different things seem to work for different people with pgp and I don’t want to blow £1500 if it’s not going to help 😳 having said that I am desperate!

Wow running, sounds like a dream, so glad it’s worked for you. Really makes you appreciate what a blessing being pain free and mobile is

@Boshi it was my physio who recommend prolotherapy and the particular clinic that I went to. It's more widely available in the US than here, but there are a few clinics across the UK that offer it. It's actually more commonly used for a lot of sporting injuries, but they realised it also helped PGP. Apparently, some footballers can end up with something similar to PGP due to repetitive stress in that area.

It's not an instant fix, because the way it works is to cause loads of inflammation in the area to promote the body to go into overdrive on regrowth/repair. This takes a while, so you don't notice real improvements until 8 weeks after the final injection, and the most benefits are a felt few months after that.

The main thing I noticed a few months after having it done, was that I was no longer getting an awful grinding and clicking sension around the pubic bone area, so it really seems to have stabilised it.

I had a chat/consultation with the Dr who did it before I agreed on the course three injections. I think if I had decided against it at that point I would have just been charged around £200 for the consultation (the consultation fee was waved when I decided to go ahead).

I think the only way to find out if it would work for you would be to set a consultation up, but I could be wrong, and maybe there's more info out there.

Oh yes the clicking coming from my lower back/pelvis is constant, it’s awful.

Thank you so much for the info, I will look into this as it sounds promising. I do feel that it’s mechanical and not hormonal. I breastfed for 14 months but when I stopped it made no difference at all the the pain 4 months on.

How were the procedures? I’m reading that they can be painful. I’m no stranger to needles having been through acupuncture and IVF but I just dread anything to do with needles these days!

The needle is extremely long, but very thin. It hurts while they are injecting you, but it's pretty short-lived. Then it's just tender around the injection site for a couple of weeks afterwards. After the first day or two, I didn't really notice the tenderness unless my toddler was actively jumping on me around the site that I had the injection.

They also use something like a very low level x-ray while they inject you, to make sure they focus on the right area, so if you're not squeamish at all, you can watch the needle go in, in detail! I did have to look away at that point though.