Please come share your PGP survival tips

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I'm 19 weeks and this is my first pregnancy. Have always suffered from lower back pain but it has been nonstop since 10 weeks.

I have been to see a women's health physio who has given me a belt and exercises but the pain is getting worse (in fact the belt seems to aggravate things).

I'm sleeping on an extra duvet with pillow between legs and one behind back and trying to keep my spine in a neutral position when sitting.

I'm not due back at physio for two weeks so would really appreciate any tips in the mean time. I can just about live with the pain at the moment but I'm really concerned about it getting worse.

I've been seeing a chiropractor who has been amazing, not cheap but if you can find a good one it's so worth it

I think that's going to be my next step Butterfly, that or a physio who can manipulate joints. It feels like my pelvis is misaligned so when I put the belt on it pulls it together at the wrong angle and hurts even more!

How often do you have to go?

Get referred by your MW for physio. I had it with my first and got it much earlier with this pregnancy. (8 weeks)
Have had one to one physio as I demanded an urgent referral and at now 32 weeks I'm coping ok. I was in a much worse state this time last pregnancy. I only had one session last time although I currently have 1 every 2 weeks at the mo and every time she puts my pelvis back in place.
The belt didn't help me either so in some cases it's not a cure!

Good luck but def get what help u can. It's horrid. It will get worse as you get bigger so def manage it as best u can early on .

Belt never helped me. One thing I did find useful was a black bin liner on my car seat. It made it easier to swivel to get in and out of the car!

Avoid using stairs wherever you can. It is frustrating standing on a moving escalator when you're normally the person walking up on the left but it makes a huge difference to whether I can walk at the end of the week.

My physio also recommended a bag of peas on the lower pelvis to ease the inflammation (wrapped in a tea towel or something to limit ice burns). Not tied it yet but the logic is there.

I'll be following this thread with interest. Currently 25 weeks and have come home tonight in tears because it has played up all day and I'm so tired of the pain.
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Physio useless. Splash out on an osteopath. I had three treatments and went from pain and crutches to back to normal.

If you can find a local class, Aqua yoga for pregnancy. I still ended up on crutches by 37 weeks, but I maintain it would have been a lot sooner were it not for that. Just make sure your instructor knows about the PGP; I got adapted exercises to do in the water. Helped so much!

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I've been bad at limiting my movements when I'm not in too much pain. I think I need to start to move differently all the time rather than just when I'm really hurting.

Aqua yoga sound fab fox I've had a quick google and none round me. I am going to start swimming this week though. Any tips on which movements helped you?

Avoiding aggravating it has been the best thing for me but it is easy to forget when you're not feeling pain and then setting it off. Being on a sofa, particularly with my feet up, definitely makes it worse so I either sit on a gym ball, kneel on the floor draped over a gym ball, or kneel sideways on the sofa leaning on the arm. It was really bad at about 23 weeks ish. Much better now at nearly 35.

OP with PGP do not do breaststroke! Probably obvious but worth stating! Also you can go to regular aqua aerobics classes and just have a word beforehand with the teacher.

I was seeing my chiropractor twice a week, but yesterday he was really happy with my progress and said leave it a few weeks. I'm also have 1-1 pilates sessions to help with muscles. I'm only 9 weeks but been struggling already!

Thanks for all the advice. I was hoping to avoid paying for physio/chiro/osteo but I've definitely noticed a deterioration this week so will sort an appointment for next week.
Currently desperately trying to find a comfortable sitting position so will get a gym ball tomorrow too.

Do any of you have a giant pregnancy pillow and has it helped at all?

I got a bolster pillow but found it too big between my legs. A regular pillow put between my knees/calves/heels and smother one under my bump seems to work just as well. Saved me some money too.

Avoiding triggering it definitely seems the way forward but I'm similar to another poster in that when I'm feeling ok I do too much..and very quickly don't feel ok again b

Yes, definitely not full breast stroke - arms are OK, but with gentle kicking! Also if you can get your hands on a long pool noodle, they are great for floatation.. Very relaxing!

NHS physio also useless for me. As was the belt.

Following helped:
Acupuncture (amazing, helped with pain hugely)
Osteopathy (took a few attempts to find a good one, but found one who specialised in women and children and used gentle/ cranial methods)

In both cases, find people who specialise in pregnant women. And I also managed to find cheap options: acupuncture - a 'multi-bed' clinic (google it to find one near you) and the osteopaths were also a charity so worked on a donation basis. Each cost me £20 a visit (as opposed to the £50-70 they'd cost normally around here in London)

Good luck! At 20 weeks I thought I'd be on crutches within the month. Acu and osteo kept me on my feet and, in fact, by the last month or so of pregnancy I was relatively pain free.

Also see if you can find a women's physio on the NHS. The difference between the general physios I saw in my first pregnancy and the specialist ones I saw in the second was enormous. It didn't get anywhere near as bad second time round thank goodness, but they had me in a tubigrip support by about 18 weeks, they physically assessed and monitored me very, very thoroughly, and the services they could offer included massage, acupuncture and hydrotherapy. The general guys, nice though they were, just said it was normal in pregnancy, they couldn't do any physical therapy, and handed me a support belt and crutches. And it took six weeks to get an 'urgent' referral.

Avoid sitting on the sofa - I tended to have better days if I'd sat on dining chairs during the previous evening. And keep pestering for physio, it did help me when I finally got it.

Private physio with plenty of experience who can put everything back where it belongs. Should cost about £40 and you will also be shown exercises to do. I only had to go once...

I saw a senior physio about my PGP and one interesting tip she gave me was to sleep on top of a silky/smooth sleeping bag as it would make changing positions easire because there was less friction.

TIPS THAT WORK ON SMALL BUDGET!
I've got severe PGP very early in pregnancy, around week 11. No one really believed me and no one understood the degree of pain. Except of my loving husband who witnessed my agony. The pain started gently and was getting a bit stronger day by day. The worst pain started after slouching on my comfy sofa with legs up. This started three weeks of the worst period of pain I've ever experienced in my life. Some women say labour pain is nothing in comparison with severe PGP, I'm soon about to find out, due next month. I still remember the worst moment when I was stranded in the bathroom unable to make even one step in flood of tears, standing on one leg for 10 minutes begging to be able to reach my bed 3 metres away. It was also so scary when it felt like my hip came out of my joint and I felt it wobbling while walking, making me very unstable. I was honestly disabled at that time, unable to stand or walk. As you can see my agony lasted 3 weeks - I was very lucky. And I strongly believe this is thanks to the adaptations that I've made:

• Buy satin pyjamas. This makes a world of difference when turning in bed. Remember to wear top as well, not only trousers and a t-shirt

• I was very lucky that we have foam mattress in a little room. Hard orthopaedic mattress in my bedroom gave me so much pain. If you can afford it, buy memory foam mattress (our is anyway from second hand shop for peanuts)

-buy bolster pillow or use any other pillow between your legs. I bought double size but I found it way too long as I hate using it under my bump. I use mine between legs only which I wonderful. It helps so much with PGP as it stops you from turning when you're asleep Remember, the pillow has to be not only between your hips and legs but all way up between your ankles. I recommend single size

• surprisingly turning with bolster was very painful. During worst period I had to take it out from between my legs, turn and put it back on

• Get used to walking exactly like Geisha!!!! This makes a world of difference, tiny steps with legs as close together as possible. Walk very slowly.

-Climbing steps - always one step at a time with both feet being joined on each step: start with stronger leg when going up and with painful when going down (as far as I remember)

-My single visit to physio was absolutely useless, I knew more tricks and adaptations for PGP than she did

• Tight trousers (e.g. jeans) were clearly making my pelvis hurt more, start wearing maternity trousers as early as you can

-When getting into and out of the car sit on large plastic bag. Get in and out keeping both legs tight together.

-My old car is a bit higher while my husband's has low suspension. My husband's car caused agony! We started using only my car for any journey I had to make

• Start doing weekly shopping online, eliminate any walking that you can avoid

• I bought wonderful chair pillow off Amazon for drivers & coccyx pain, with a little whole at the back. I use it everywhere up to today: on the office chair, at home. Never ever sit on the sofa. Even now sitting on the sofa triggers my pain. Always sit on the chair. During the worst pain I was sitting at home on hard plastic garden chair and it was the only one that wasn't giving me pain. Now I use only office chair which height needs to allow you to have hips higher than your knees). That's what sofa can't do.

• I tried crutches. They never removed my pain but allowed me to make a few steps during those 'flood of tears' moments

• I bought birthing ball and it was sometimes the only thing I could sit on. Since the pain went away I haven't used it too much though. But highly recommended for PGP. Remember to choose correctly 65 or 65cm according to your height

• Regulate your car seat higher

• I adapted my room completely by putting a chair close so that I have something to push against when getting up and sitting down. Always get up and into bed with legs fully together, one move at a time (first sit, then lay at the back like a roll, then turn to the preferred side)

• Walk ' in squares' with tiny pause before you make a turn. Break every movement you have to make into single steps , that's the best tip I can give you. This forced me to be getting to work 30 minutes earlier than usually but it was worth it.

• Later in pregnancy I still had several spells of PGP pain, always because I made some wrong movement, e.g. once I sat on the floor - what a mistake. The same happeded during my antenatal classes - never sitting on the floor !!!! Too long standing triggered it too as well as moments of temptation to sit on the sofa next to my husband. Each time PGP came back I had to return for 2-3 days to my adaptations and the pain gradually went away. That's why I clearly now that these adaptations really work!!!!

-I love sitting with one leg under my bottom on the chair - this is a huge no no!!!! Legs always flat together

Hope this helps, I truly understand what you're going through. Best wishes