Pelvic instability after birth?

[lill72]

Hi
My DD is 2.5. I had pelvic instablity/pain in pregnancy although not bad enough to be on crutches, but painful none the less. It took me about 9 months after birth to feel almost normal again. Now DD is 2.5, it seems to chave come back, albeit mildly compared to what it was, but it is noticeable. It came back after I walked for two days straight playing tourist with my dad who was visiting. Now it seems to come back after walking or standing for a couple of hours. I can feel the instability creeping back which is horrible. I am worried as I would like to have another baby and fear it will be very bad.

Has anyone had this also? Do you know of the best treatment for this?

many thanks,
from the slightly wobbly legged one.

I've had crippling back pain in this pg. Finally saw a McTimoney chiropracter with experience of treating pregnant women who has hugely improved my pelvic/back pain in 2 treatments.

Before her I tried the standard NHS physio referral - worse than useless.

Maybe the thing to do is keep trying until you find the right treatment, with combo of Pilates / whatever's recommended, so that you go into the next pg in the best possible state. I would definitely suggest being proactive and sorting it out. Good luck!

OhGood - thank you for your suggestions. Saw NHS phsios for months. t seems they cannot touch you to work on anything - just suggest exercises which you inevitably get wrong. Totally agree - worse than useless.

Thanks - will def be proactive and get onto it now. Your chiro sounds amazing! Glad your pain has improved.

Are you sure you're not pregnant, as SPD can be one of the first signs if you're that way inclined, with me my pilates teacher and I knew before the test! Or have you started a new pill/hormone treatment or was this mega walk in the run up to your period? All of those will make it more likely you'll have problems.

I'm on my 2nd SPD pregnancy, the 1st time I was on crutches from 7 months til 3 months post, and still pain until 2 years after giving birth (and still not back to normal when I got pregnant again). I have been working really hard since with pilates and physio to get in shape. Now I have SPD again (been on crutches since 5 months, now using wheelchair). I unfortunately also had hyperemesis seriously so lost most of the muscle I'd worked so hard to build up.

My advice:

• Find a good pilates teacher and if you can afford it do 1:1s as well as group classes. You need to build as much core muscle as possible. Fitness instructors who work in gyms aren't usually the best pilates teachers as they have v limited training for this 'add on'. I can give recommendations in the SW of England.
• Swim as much as possible. No breaststroke though!!
• Find a good physio, and I'm afraid that probably means paying. Then religiously do the exercises you're given. They'll probably be pilates-type anyway. Preferably a physio who has extra training in pregnancy. Also you might be hypermobile as SPD and this tend to go together. If this is diagnosed then you must basically NEVER stop doing pilates and core strength building exercises.
• Avoid impact sports including running, especially if you're trying to get pregnant as you an do damage in the weeks before you get the +ve test.

As a temporary measure anti-inflammatories (as long as you can take them and you're sure you're not pregnant or actively trying) will help the pain better than paracetamol. Take them with food and take them for a few days on schedule for max effect. Also try heat/cold, whichever feels best. You could also try a TENS machine.

Good luck

Pollaidh - thanks very kindly for your helpful suggestions. I am sorry to hear you have been experiencing SPD and do hope you get through it ok - it can be quite debilitating.

I had never thought of pregnancy - hmmm unlikely but you never know!

The other tips I will take on board straight away - I have just come back from the GP and am getting a referral to an NHS physio. Will give it one shot and if they are useless I will go private.

Going to do some Pilates and swiming - booking now. I am scared to think how bad it could get if I get pregnant again so best to try and increase my muscles as much as I can.

I am not a fan of running so no problem avoiding that one, but I do like walking. Well actually do a lot of it incidentally anyway. Not sure if that is so good. Hmmm.

Thanks again and good luck to you. It is very hard trying to explain to anyone that has not had it how awful it can be.

Here's what the Pelvic Pain website says about the emotional impact of PGP which really resounded with me - I found it really isolating and frustrating:

Emotional symptoms

It is increasingly recognised that PGP can also have a big impact on how you feel emotionally, because coping with the physical challenges of day-to-day life can be difficult and leave you feeling low and isolated. One of the problems is that there is nothing to ?see? with PGP ? you aren?t wearing a plaster cast and pain is not visible to others. Often women feel cheated because they expect to be blooming and enjoying their pregnancy but, in fact, are struggling because they are experiencing pain that no-one can see.

www.pelvicpartnership.org.uk/

They really recommend getting manual manipulation to fix the issue and then following with physio to maintain.

More good luck!

Hi - I had SPD with my first pregnancy and now again with my second, 6 years later. After my first, it would still flare up if I spent a lot of time walking at a slow pace, eg sightseeing or shopping. It also sometimes would come back if I were in the first half of my menstrual cycle so I assume it was due to the hormones. I ran a lot but never found that to be a problem. I was worried that with this pg it would be much worse than the second. Although it has come on earlier with the first (first felt it at 17 weeks rather than 23 or so) it seems to be remaining light/manageable at 22 weeks.

The other posters above have better advice on remedies than I do but I just wanted to let you know that even though I was troubled with it between pregnancies it hasn't so far been so much worse with this pg. The literature I read with first pg all said that it will go away almost immediately after birth! I thought that sounded unlikely and it is. I agree with the posters above as well that it is a hard thing to communicate to others because there are no visible signs and everyone assumes that 'aches and pains' are a normal part of pregnancy.