SPD - anyone else joining me on the birthing ball?

[elgoldenflower]

Hello out there, was looking for a support thread for those of us unlucky enough to have developed SPD and couldn't find a current one.

I'm 19 weeks (EDD 26.10.11) and have been aware of pelvic pain since conception (v mild at first) but it's steadily getting worse. I now can't walk more than about 30 yds without being sofa/birthing ball - bound for the evening.

My physio is fitting me with crutches on Monday as I can't avoid a bit of walking for my work (I run drama workshops all over the place so have to travel to them and I don't drive).

So far cycling's wonderful but I'm not aloud to use my bike like a mobility scooter as far as I know so cycling usually involves a bit of walking too.

Grr just wanted to be able to rant without annoying my v supportive antenatal thread.

Another tip about getting out of bed is to keep your ankles and feet together bend your knees upbring your shoulder and arm over and look over with your head the way that you are getting out. This should be less painful and very graceful!!!

Hi Fleecy I remember us talking about this on the October thread.

I got my crutches yesterday and have to say they made a huge difference. I had to do quite a bit of walking around for work and they really helped my pelvis/hip pain, only a bit worse in the evening than after rest.

However adjusting to using crutches has caused a whole other load of aches and pains and was much more tiring than walking - so after a warm bath I crashed out early last night and I'm quite sore this morning. I'll get used to those aches though and they'll go away with practice, might even gain some upper body strength! Better to be staying a bit mobile and able to work.

I'm used to the crutches now, the only thing I get is red hands! And I have great shoulder muscles.

Fleecy (and others) have you been to this site??

www.pelvicpartnership.org.uk/

Yes your hormones are making your ligaments lax - BUT - with PGP/SPD there is nearly always a physical inbalance that is causing/contributing to the pain.

If you have a stiff muscle or a stiff joint this can put uneven forces on your pelvis. This doesn't matter if your pelvis is not pregnant and is acting like a nice solid block. When you are pregnant you pelvis starts acting like two halves instead of one block. If everything around it is nice and even - fine and dandy - if not, the uneven forces cause one half of the pelvis to move relative to the other - causing you pain.

This means if you massage/ stretch/ relax the stiff muscle; or mobilise/ gently loosen the stiff joint - you will reduce the forces causing the relative movement.

Some sort of MANUAL therapy is nearly always beneficial - be it chiro, osteo or physio. If you are lucky enough to be able to afford it I would go private straight away. Either way get your GP or midwife to refer you to an obstetrics physio/ womens health physio.

Print information off the pelvic partnership site and take it to your physio - they shouldn't be saying "there is nothing I can do it's hormones".

I went to a chiropractor - one of my sacroiliac joints (pelvic joint kind of above your buttock) was much tighter than the other - he mobilised it and I have had a massive improvement in symptoms.

I am lucky I have it relatively mild (at 18 weeks). It came on at 13 weeks, and I really wanted to nip it in the bud before I got bigger.

I get really bad sitting down at work - so I have put my computer on boxes and started working predominantly standing up (though standing exacerbates symptoms in some people).

I also found stretching by bum muscles really really helped. If your symptoms allow you to, sit in a chair and rest one ankle on the opposite knee. Let the knee fall to the side and lean gently forwards to feel stretch in your bum.

Sorry for essay like post.

I'm going for some reflexology tonight, so will report back and see if that helps! Its supposed to be a good option

Ooh thanks for that - would gladly pay for treatment that would fix, or at the very least alleviate it. Will have a look at the site. My pain is mainly on one side so that makes sense.

Hello to everyone.
May I join you please? I'm 20wks, due 20th October and have had PGP since conception. This is my 2nd pregnancy and with DD, I was on crutches for the last 6 weeks so doing all I can to avoid them this time round. Looking after a 2yr old on crutches would be a nightmare! I bought a Serola belt early on and find it definitely helps....when I take it off to pee I immediately feel worse and ache all over hips and lower back. Having said that, sometimes it is so uncomfortable to wear, as it digs into bump and presses on bladder, that I just want to rip it off.
Also attending physio and being manipulated as pelvis just won't stay put.
I survive by doing minimum housework, limiting lifting & carrying, not pushing buggy, do online food shopping. Wearing sensible footwear has also really helped. I wear fitflops and trainers or anything ugly with a good bouncy footbed for high shock-absorbency. If I accidentally forget and put on my wafer thin slippers, I feel the pain right through my pubic bone and into the back. I take a bath, use hot water bottle, take paracetamol if I have to......and keep telling myself that in just a few months' time I'll be fine again.
Hugs of sympathy to everyone else...its great to know we're not alone:)

Marking my place - have to finish some work before close of business!

Bit of an spd veteran really so will post further when I've read up...

Just seen this, after startingf new thread .

I can't get physio for a while and i'm 34 weeks and pretty sore... what belt should i buy if any meantime?

Dynababy just posted on your other thread. I would definitely echo what Woodifer says about the manual manipulation. Many physios won't do it on pregnant people, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. I was off work for two weeks with horrendous SPD at about 20 weeks, but it's been manageable since then (with lots of osteo treatment and hydrotherapy) and I'm now nearly 39 weeks (although it is starting to get worse again now, but i'm off work so not such as issue).

Grrr I'm really tired coz last night the only position which didnt hurt my hips gave me cramp in my legs instead!!

I've not been brave enough to use my crutches yet.

Ok, back now! Right, here's a few things I've picked up as I've been scanning down:

• birthing balls can be really good for strengthening your core muscles however, you do have to be really careful that you're not encouraging your pelvis to spread further
• pillows between your knees and ankles are great. If you put them there before you get into bed it will help to ensure that you keep your knees together
• get a mattress topper, ideally NOT memory foam. Foam doesn't adapt quick enough, I'm currently using a 4 tog duvet
• if when you need the loo in the night, always remember to engage your muscles before getting up, same goes for any movement really!

I'm on dc4, currently 32+4. Didn't have it at all with #1 or 2, but had it v badly with #3. It starter about 10wks but took me a while to realise it wasn't just pg pain. Took from 16wks til about 24wks to get dr to take me seriously. Saw physio, had belt and crutches at first appt. Had cocodamol and dihydrocodeine a couple of weeks later, was induced at 38wks due to the pain.

This time around I put all the physio in to place as soon as I knew I was pg. I staved it off completely until 18ish weeks and is def not as bad now as it was at this stage last time.

Physio is my saviour. I went yesterday so I currently feel a bit 'abused' but I know this feeling won't last beyond another day or so and then I'll feel a lot better.

dynababy, I have this belt. Highly recommend it. It is, according to my physio, the "rolls royce" of belts. Expensive but so worth it.

buttonmoon, what do you mean by "engage your muscles before getting up"?? I have physio tomorrow so also expecting to feel "abused" over the next few days, I know exactly how you mean :)

That is indeed the rolls royce of belts but you need to exercise caution until a physio (or similar) has cleared any imbalance you might have or it could exacerbate rather than help.

I mean engage your pelvic floor, lower deep belly muscles and buttocks. Just like in all the exercises I presume your physio has given you? So that you muscles are doing the work and supporting your pelvis rather than your pelvis trying (and usually failing IME) to support you.

ah, thank you for explaining. Will try that tonight when turning in bed & getting up out of a chair, which is always agony.

Always! For every action!

When getting out of a chair, do you push to the edge first then stand as if pulled up by that old friend, the invisible string out of the top of your head? Try not to lean forward as you're subjecting your pelvis to even more strain that way. And always choose a chair with arms.

i read somewhere satin sheets were a good help and raised an eyebrow but did not know where to buy such things so used a kind of satin breadspread that i had as a sheet and must say has helped not such an effort to turn over - i will re-phrase that it still hurts like heck but i no longer want to kill myself!

If you can't find satin sheets, satin pjs are just as good. Or anything slippery - so that new modal fabric is pretty good too.

I'm sure somewhere like Argos would come up trumps for satin sheets

Hello, I am 29+4 and had PGP since 23 weeks, this is 2nd pg, first one it was just mild this time I woke my husband sobbing in bed as I couldn't move at all and was stuck on my back in the middle of the night, OK it was on an airbed in a tent at a music festival which possibly exacerbated the problem.

Have been to physio and got a support belt, been doing all the recommended movements, exercises and limiting my activities (no picking up or pushing toddler in buggy :( ) and it has improved a lot, now I can walk about with it just at the back of my mind as I feel it in my right buttock whenever I move but its not making me wince each time I move.

Something I found really useful is a grabber, like a litter picker to get things off the floor from betterlifehealthcare.

Am confused about chiropractice/osteopaths as physio (NHS) was dismissive saying they may loosen my joints further and make it worse, I have hypermobile joints, and that the key things was to restrict the range of movement in my hips. Is that true or is she just old fashioned and skeptical?

No, she's not wrong but she also is a little bit. Hypermobility (which is a common thing to discover you have when you are diagnosed with spd) does bring added risks. You can damage the ligaments by manipulation as they can move too far IYSWIM?

If you want to see an osteo/chiro you need to ensure that the person you see is fully experienced in spd and also with hypermobile joints otherwise you can really do lasting damage to yourself.

If you have hypermobility it is doubly important to do the exercises the physio gave you. Your ligaments won't support you, your joints can't because your ligaments won't. That leaves your muscles to do everything so they need to be up to the job!

Thank you buttonmoon, useful information, I do see what you mean about over extending ligaments, the phrase "lasting damage" has caught my attention. I think for the moment I will stick with the exercises.

I knew I was double jointed before pg, it runs in family, just viewed it as a perk which meant I was good at yoga :o only put two and two together when reading pelvic partnership website.

Exactly the same as me - except I don't know where mine came from. I can dislocate various joints at will and can still (though not at 33wks pg!) get my ankles behind my head which is how I was born.

But it only became a problem when I was pg for the 3rd time. Before that I just used to think I had terrible posture which is another sign.

Sadly, one dd also has hypermobile joints so I'm doing all I can to ensure her posture is good right from the offset!

Lasting damage is a scary thought. I know now that having ecv with dc3 meant that the back to back labour I endured was more likely which has probably exacerbated a back condition I didn't previously know I had. So I'm going to refuse ecv this time (if it is still needed then) and opt for a section. Of course, if baby turns head down I'll go with a vd and hope this one plays ball!

My sister recommended this and I just remembered to try it last night - as I was particularly sore when turning in bed last night.

Try turning "under" instead of over. So wher I'm lying on my side - to get to the other side its much easier to roll onto my front (or actually elbows and knees) first - see if it works for you! :D

woodifer, i do that sometimes.
buttonmoon yes that is how i get out of a chair (when DH isn't pulling me up out of it?). I try to choose one with arms. good tip about not leaning forward.
Very sore today after physio yesterday:(

No pain no gain though in this case! Make sure dh is supporting you getting up rather than pulling you up before your muscles are ready. My dh is 'very helpful' but can be a little gung ho at times!