perlvic pain - Maternity belts... any good?

[trumpetmouse]

Hello there,
I'm 26 weeks. I've got increasingly bad pelvic pain, particularly in the sacroiliac (sp?) joint, which radiates to my lower back by the end of the day.
I'm waiting for a physio referral and I don't know how long it will take.
I'm getting a bit desperate and thinking of buying a maternity belt online whilst I wait.
If you've had a similar type of pain, have you used a maternity belt? Did it help? Where did you get it from? Any particular brand? Any other advice you think would be useful....?

I'm doing all the other things you're suppose to do to reduce the pain (walking less, pillow in between my legs when sleeping, not crossing my legs, etc).
Thanks!

The Serola belt isn't cheap, but it's MUCH better than the basic belt I was given by an NHS physio. Amazon sell them.

No use at all to me. Money better spent on a private Physio or osteo that specialises in women's health/pregnancy. Regular accupuncture also helped keep the pain manageable.
The key with SPD/ PGP is to get it treated early.

Good luck. Mine was worst weeks 20-28 and then eased off quite a bit in last trimester.

I was lent this one by a friend and it was great:

Nexcare support belt

They sell it in mothercare but it is cheaper online. It was great because it was adjustable so grew with me. I didn't use the over the bump strap bit though. It was also good because I could wear it for my waddle to the train but take it off for sitting down on the train.

trumpetmouse I'm in exactly the same position as you so will watch this with interest! Mine is worse at nice so I'm interested to see if the belts can be worn overnight. I got referred for physio when I had spd when preg with my son but I found the stretchy tuby grip made it worse

I did have a really good physio on the NHS. Ask your midwife if you have one available to you. She said that this belt was better than the ones she could give me.

And yes to CityDweller's advice to get it treated early.

I wore a nexcare belt at night (and during the day), it helped lots before I got sorted by an excellent physio. I also found a 5cm memory foam mattress topper helped - we have a firm mattress. Or a folded double duvet underneath me before we got the mattress topper. And pretending my knees were superglued together during the day. And never carrying uneven loads such as shopping or a shoulder bag - backpacks much better, or even better get someone else to carry stuff!

Serola belt, keeping knees together at all times, lots of rest and pelvic floor exercises helped me. Saw private and NHS Physio who advised above. Post natal it was worse and saw a cranial osteopath who really helped too.

I was in the same position as you and bought an industrial looking belt off ebay thinking I would hit the PGP hard with something decent. It helped, a bit, but was a bit uncomfortable to wear and when I saw the physio she gave me one of the simple stretchy band belts instead. Much better and I use it when I'm on my feet a lot. Really they just hold the pelvis together tightly to stop it moving due to all the relaxin you produce in pregnancy.

Other than that stick religiously to the general advice: keep legs together when getting out of bed/car, don't do breaststroke legs when swimming, sleep with a pillow between your knees. It all does help stave off the pain a bit even though it seems general advice.

thanks everyone for the advice - very useful. Got an NHS physio appointment scheduled towards the end of the week (I was impressed how fast it was) and might get to try one of the their belts or stretchy band belts. Thanks also for the general advice. Think I'll try the mattress topper and go nuts on the pelvic floor exercises too!