Hip and lower back pain

[Charferg]

Hello all,

So I have been suffering with lower back and hip pain for a couple of months, after an MRI scan last week they discovered I am 26 week pregnant!!!! I am coming to terms with the shock but think the pain is now related to the pregnancy are there any other sufferers out there with any pain relief advice? I swim every day, do a fair bit of walking (when I can) and am doing pilates.... The pain is driving me up the wall!

TIA :)

Blimey what a surprise for you! Congrats!

Pop a pillow between your legs when you're sleeping, or even better get a pregnancy pillow. I had really really sore hips when sleeping in bed, the morning was like agony, but since buying one of these bad boys it has got a lot better - www.amazon.co.uk/PILLOW-PLEASURE-MATERNITY-SUPPORT-COTTON/dp/B004T31A8U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1437048726&sr=8-3&keywords=pregnancy+pillow I'll warn you now, its massive, so much so my husband has started calling him my boyfriend Steve. Its a proper passion killer.

My back went at exactly the same time as my hips did, its something to do with the hormone relaxin being released through your body. bought a support belt, now I'm almost 30 weeks and massive and have been since about week 15 (no idea why, just unlucky!) so it may be that this isn't the answer for you right now but have a look anyway - www.amazon.co.uk/Maternity-Pregnancy-Support-Waist-Abdomen/dp/B009M2U0LQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437048873&sr=8-1&keywords=pregnancy+support+belt

Good luck!

Wow! That must have been one hell of a surprise! Congratulations!

You sound like you are pretty active and one thing I've noticed since preggers is that my hamstrings get super short and tight very easily. This is not unusual if you go through periods of being relatively immobile (which working at a desk) and then doing activities - regardless of being pregnant or not, but the effect is exacerbated in pregnancy.

If your hamstrings are tight you will get low back pain. In addition to the advice by the poster above I would recommend trying spending a few minutes each day to stretch and touch your toes. If you can't reach them first time don't push it and don't do any jerky bobs down. Make it a smooth motion to make sure you don't pull anything out of place.

Cat and camel exercises are also good like this

(but you do pilates already so you are probably all over this already!)

congrats again!

Congratulations what a shock but hopefully a good one.

Make sure if you take a class your pilates instructor knows as the relaxin can make you more flexible which sounds great but it's not always a good thing and you can overstretch.

And ask for a referal to the womens health physio team and they can help make sure the issues don't get worse as you go through the next few months, I was refered at 34 wks and now at 38 wks I'm still waiting for an appointment so do it as early as possible.

Is there any chance it could be SPV? I started suffering quite early on . . . as other posters have said, it's relaxin loosening ligaments but it causes quite bad lower bad and hip pain. Breaststroke and lots of walking can make it worse . . . might be worth talking to a GP or your midwife just to check whether it could be SPV.

Thank you, a huge shock I am still trying to get my head round!

I have been sleeping with a pillow for a couple of months now so it helps a little. The hamstring stretching makes sense though so that you I will give that a go. I am desperate I will try anything, I hate the doctors at the best of times but think I may have to pop in and see them, trying as much self help as I can, the support sounds like its worth a try as well.

Unfortunately I have a degree of hyper mobility in most of my joints making them super flexible at the best of times which is not good!

I am not sure about the SVP? I have just looked it up, it kind of sounds similar but most of the sharp pain is in my left hip joint, the rest in my lower back is a muscular ache. Maybe I can ask the doctor.

Thanks for all the advice, there are a few things I can try here at least, I think I will also invest in a big pillow!

Its a bit Ironic as I was prescribed very strong pain killers a couple of months ago to help with the pain, but can't take anything now.