Pain in right hip in first trimester

[Tinwe]

Hi all! Please can I tap into the collective wisdom?

I'm in my 11th week of my first pregnancy and was excited to visit a friend with my DP a few hours drive away for the weekend. Yesterday we were enjoying a wander around town (for the first time in weeks as my morning sickness is just beginning to ease) but after about an hour and a half I started to get pain in my right hip. It felt like an ache at first but got progressively worse to very painful burning and some pins and needles down the front of my leg so I had to give up. Strange thing is even my skin was sore- felt like i'd fallen on it and badly bruised it or similar and it lasted all day and evening much to my embarrassment at spoiling the party. It's eased over night but it's still there and I expect it's going to get worse again today when we're out together :-(

Any ideas what it might be, whether I should worry and what I can do to help reduce the pain?

Thanks all x

When your pregnant, all your ligaments relax so it's a lot easier to injure yourself. You may have just overdone it and strained that hip. If it is a strain, there's nothing much you can do over than apply icepacks and rest. Take it easy today and maybe see your GP on Monday if it's still hurting.

Sounds like pelvic girdle pain - use icepack or frozen peas in tea towel on the outside of your hip, but also on your lower back (sacroiliac joint).

GP's don't tend to do much apart from tell you to take painkillers, tbh. If you had crippling SPD, then you might be given more help, but if you are basically mobile but in pain, it's paracetamol and rest.

If you can afford to go and see a private chiropractor who specialises in pregnancy aches and pains, I would recommend it. I had hip pain/sacro iliac pain/iliotibial pain, very like you describe, and a McTimoney chiropractic session helped a good deal. As did ice, rest and a Serola sacrolilac belt. Do rest, as walking on it when it hurts will make it worse. Gentle swimming is your best bet for injury free exercise. Good luck.

Thanks japhrimel and barkfox, really appreciate your advice. I was able to read it on my phone but not reply properly while I was away, sorry.
It eased a little on Sunday to largely pins and needles with the odd sharp pain. Today's the same as Sunday. Definately seems nerve related with all the pins and needles but has eased for now so will just grin and bear it but remember the icepack and chiropractor idea for later when I'm suspicious it will return! barkfox do you think having this problem so early on means that I should expect big problems later?

I'm told not necessarily. The pain is caused by the release of certain hormones at certain times. I get pain in my lower back and the top of my right leg which makes it difficult to walk sometimes. I have been told by my phsyio that this will come and go during pregnancy as the release of hormones fluctuate. I had a few occasions around week 9 to 12 where I had full days where the pain was that intense that I couldn't walk or even move. With the help of my physiotherapist I have been training the muscles that help support those causing me problems and now (17 weeks pregnant) can go days without any pain in my back.

It is worth going to see your GP since it was my GP who referred me to physio due to my injory being pre-pregnancy. Actually I was reluctant but he insisted especially since at the time I was ttc and he knew it would be worse in pregnancy. Failing that there are special physio sessions ran by the maternity services in most areas, your midwife should have details of yours. I turned mine down due to already having physio twice a month - I wouldn't want to be greedy now :)

I hope it starts to feel better soon. I know how frustrating it was for me to be in pain or suffering with morning sickness, it feels like there's no end!!

1Catherine1, you have sterling service GP and physio in your area! Round my way, the waiting list for physio referrals is so long, I would have had my baby by the time I got physio appointment... MW's no use either. There was support for severe SPD, but not for anything else.

Depends where the OP lives as to what's available - NHS is a postcode lottery for this as much as anything else.

My sore hip episode also only lasted a week or so (I think around week 22/23), but I got treatment for it, and was very strict then about posture, exercises and treating at the 1st sign of pain from then on rather than waiting until it got worse. The pain relates to surges of relaxin, the hormone that means your joints, esp around the pelvis, are more vulnerable to getting out of alignment and tendons/ligaments etc are more prone to strain and getting overstretched. So you more likely to get hip and pelvis pain at certain times - but if you don't treat it, it can become a chronic problem, regardless of when hormone surges are. Remember throughout pregnancy, your weight and how you balance it is changing ALL the time, and that's quite a challenge physically.

However, my advice FWIW is get it looked at sooner rather than later. If you wait until another episode of more intense pain, that actually limits what a physio or a chiropractor can do. Which is basically massage realignment to help straighten you out a bit, and then exercises to stop you straining vulnerable areas. It can help a huge amount, but tinwe, if you've had one episode, or are having some pain now, personally I would be active about addressing it now if you can.

Thanks both, very interesting :) As this is my first i've no idea what services are like round here. Currently it's reduced to just the odd stab/twinge but almost constant pins and needles and discomfort if I lie on that side. I've got my scan on 26th and have to ring my midwife after that but maybe i'll try to see a gp sooner instead. Does round from what you say that I should expect ongoing troubles :(