SPD- getting worse

[London91]

I've had SPD since around 18 weeks. Consultant has just told me to take paracetamol and take it easy but that's easier said than done. I'm now 31 weeks and walking more than 5 minutes leaves me needing a rest. Then I'm in agony for days. I've walked to the shop and back and I'm done for the day. Luckily I'm WFH for now so I'm not doing my usual commute. Baby isn't due till the end of August but I'm seriously worried about this becoming worse in that time and being unable to do anything.

So ladies, please hit me with your solutions to dealing with or easing the pain.

F - same here. No advice but my commiserations x

Poly bag for getting in and out cars, on and off seats. The crinkly kind are best but harder to come by now the shops are encouraging reusable bags.

Keep your knees together when getting in and out the car. Same with getting out of bed. I used to lie on my side, pull my knees up then swivel my knees to the side then swing my legs (together) down and out the bed. There's a knack to it but it gets easier.

Also push for a physio referral. It was my physio that taught me the swivel out of bed technique. They might be able to give you crutches if they think it's bad enough.

I had this with pregnancy 2 and 3, with 3 I was basically housebound for two months. I had to pay someone to take my children to nursery and I couldn’t walk across the room. I had physio, did yoga etc but it did nothing. Try to limit walking and definitely no carrying of shopping. Sleep with a pillow between your legs and hold onto the fact it goes the second you have the baby. I had a c section and still felt better after than I did with the SPD.

Have you tried doing the physio moves using a Yoga ball? (There are videos in youtube) I had SPD in my first pregnancy but it didn't really start until about 30w and had a couple of physio sessions and learnt some exercises that helped - was told that if you get it once you are highly likely to get it in subsequent pregnancies - and true to the prediction it started this time from about 16w but been doing the exercises again and so far (21w now) although it's not got any better but not got any worse!

Hands on physio - a couple of sessions have made the world of difference for me. I wasn't able to see someone face to face on the NHS because of Coronavirus but paying for private sessions was definitely worth it (if that's an option for you).

Thank you ladies, I'll push for a physio referral. Will happily pay if I need to. Anything to get rid of some of this pain. It doesn't help that my midwife appointment for Monday has been cancelled. I'll definitely invest in a support band and yoga ball. Willing to try almost anything at this point.

I think the understanding of SPD has improved a lot in recent years but probably not really “enough”. Lots of doctors still seem to think it’s just aches and pains and you should just take paracetamol.

Look at:

pelvicpartnership.org.uk/

Lots of useful info on their website. They also have a list of physiotherapists who have the expertise to treat SPD specifically. Finding the right physio is key.

I had it so badly in my second pregnancy that I was on crutches for about 2 months. In my third pregnancy I saw the right kind of physio and I was walking unaided for the whole pregnancy. I did have pain but it was only a fraction of what I experienced in the first two pregnancies.

I should mention, I had physio in all the pregnancies but it’s about finding a physiotherapist who will be quite hands on and push things back into place that is important.

Tramadol (which I used to take at night so the pain wouldn't be too much for sleep),
crutches,
support belts for the bump,
wedge pillows to support the bump in bed,
pillow to put between the knees to support the weight of your legs and relieve the pressure on the pelvis,
physio (mine was useless) and
a McTimoney chiropractor who regularly put me back to rights during and after pregnancy.

But nothing stopped the SPD pain except the birth. And even then it took months before I was pain free. Baby is now a teen and I still use a pillow between my knees when I sleep

Good luck.

Sorry, I meant my physio was not useful in offering exercises to reduce the pain. They did discuss birthing positions with me, which turned out to be irrelevant because I ended up with a c section. But they did provide me with support belts and crutches.

I had spd from 8 weeks with both of mine. With dd i was working 6 on 4 off totalling 56 hours of work a set, all of which sat down and 30-60mins commute each way. I could barely drive at one point it got so bad. I got a drs note that said i was fit to work IF i got put on reduced hours, i dropped 12 hours a set and it made the world of difference. Sitting down long periods definatly aggravated mine

Make sure you dont sit down directly on your bottom op it will make it worse, my physio told me to rest, rest, rest.

Have you been reffered for physio?
My physio was really understanding, I found SPD is not recognised properly as the really debilitating condition it can be when it gets really bad alot of professionals/people dont understand it, my physio was very firm and said I must not do any house work showed me ways to get out of my bed and how to sleep she wrote all over my notes that I must not give birth lying down and wrote how I must have a bed that can be lowered. She said they never take any notice of how bad spd can be and she was right. They didnt. I gave birth lying down even though I said I was told i must be upright. My bed wasnt lowered as the midwife told me it couldnt be and I cried in agony getting on it and off it, in the end my husband found that it could be lowered
I had an awful birth and threw up with shock afterwards.
I couldn't walk afterwards and had to be wheel chaired out, the midwives were really useless, it took me three weeks to start being able to walk again. My pelvis felt like it was splitting every time I moved.

I am telling you this as before I gave birth I came on here and asked for some help from anyone who had had spd and spoke to a couple of people who just because they had a fairly easy ride with it, being able to work and walk and give birth fine they told me how I would be fine and that I should be exercising and that my consultant and physio were basically talking rubbish... Even though I couldnt physically walk as I felt like my pelvis was cracking.
You really should rest, you really need to take the very best care of yourself right now.
Spd comes in all different strengths some people get it worse than others, listen to your body and rest.

Make sure you keep your legs together as much as possible.
When you sit down make sure you are not sitting directly on your bottom and sleep with a pillow in between your legs.
No hot baths.
Legs together and swivel out of bed.
Rest, rest, rest

I can totally empathise - even with a support band and physio, I still needed crutches from about 30 weeks onwards

@Mabelannie that’s such a useful site, thanks. I think I have insurance that will cover the one local to me, something I hadn’t considered, so hopefully I can get this moving next week!

Spd I'd awful. It really makes no sense on an evolutionary level. And no - my baby didn't just 'pop out' because all the ligaments were looser.

The only thing that helped was an osteopath. I finally cracked at 6 months post partum. Two sessions was all it took (but bear in mind this was post partum.

Don't do things that aggregate it. If walking makes it worse, STOP WALKING. It's progressive. If you push yourself at all, you'll only make it worse.

It will get better once baby I arrives.

I'd been on crutches and housebound for the entire third trimester. I walked out of hospital and never used the crutches again. Still had some minor pain from it, and my leg would 'give out' twice a day. But the osteo sorted that.

Pelvic partnership. Skip physio. Straight to chiropractor or osteopath trained for pregnancy.

Managed to speak with a midwife over the phone. They're going to give me a support band but otherwise I've just been told to walk with my legs as close together as possible. They said that physio is not going ahead at the moment, so suck it up basically. I'll definitely look at that site @Mabelannie thank you. I think I'll just try and arrange private physio because I can't go on like this.

Thank you ladies, you've all been so helpful.

Op if you're willing to pay, go to an osteopath instead of a physio. I'm so glad I did, mine has got heaps better ever since I started seeing mine. She does manual therapy which is kind of gently pushing me back into shape, as well as exercise advice. You can get a list of recommended soecialist osteopaths on the pgp charity website, they have recommendations for all over the country. That's how I found mine, kennington osteopaths in south london.
I've gone from crying in pain trying to sleep in bed, to (moderately) dashing up and down the stairs again. I mean I'm exaggerating haha but honestly I'm so much better after less than a month.

Ps sorry just reread the thread and saw that @Mabelannie has said the same and even given a link to the same website haha.
So yeah if you're anyway near south london @London91, I strongly recommend kennington osteopaths xx

@Umberta I'm in South London so I'll definitely check them out. Thank you!