SPD - how to ease the pain? I could cry!

[ShuffleCase]

Hi, I’m in the 2nd trimester and have developed SPD. It started around week 14 and is steadily getting worse, has it for a month now. I’m waiting on seeing a physiotherapist. Can anyone that has been through this offer any advice to help with the pain? Or how to avoid the pain? Interested to hear the outcome for others too as v scared of ending up signed off work or on crutches. I do a desk job.

Ok I feel like crutches are inevitable reading all of this :( I notice it is far better on the days when I don’t sit on the floor cross legged (to play with DC) so I will stop doing that. Will also try going down stairs on my bum and also going up/down stairs less to try to stop it getting much worse.

work will let me WFH but it’s more the hours that are a concern. Sometimes on busy weeks a 10 hour day is required rather than 7 and I just can’t manage it (we get the time back in lieu so can work less the next week of we’ve done extra). I’d be the only team member saying I can’t do it and it by will mean on busy weeks my team mates will need to pick up my extra work on their weekends which is going to make me so unpopular :( :( I don’t see what else I can do though.

I suffered with PGP in my last pregnancy. Came on around 22 weeks ish so felt very early. I found a support band really helped. I also had a tubigrip. Pregnancy yoga and Pilates. I also paid for private physio as I didn't want to/couldn't wait. This really helped.

It actually did improve and I didn't end up on crutches. Was still bloody painful and not much sleep from around 34 weeks onwards. I'm a PE teacher and managed to carry on teaching to 36 weeks. We then broke for the summer! I also have a two year old to look after so not much time for resting.

Sickness wise if you are off with pregnancy related sickness 4 weeks before due date they will make you start your maternity leave.

I had horrible SPD and I feel you! I didn't get signed off but I couldn't sit at work or WFH at my usual desk. I was given a special chair at work which sort of helped, then at about 32 weeks I went WFH only and I got a tilted lap desk from Amazon that allowed me to work while lying in bed or sitting with my feet up on the couch. It was a bit silly on zoom calls but I was propped up and blurred the background and it worked okay. It was this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08Z325VRG/ref=sspamwwdetail4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sppcsd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWw

Work paid for it.

I was signed off at 20 weeks and have a desk job, in fact I work from home. It has been that bad, am also on crutches

For those that had physio, did the physio die any actually physio ie did they put their hands on you? Release muscles, massage or work on joints? Seen the physio today but she said it’s her policy not
to touch anyone that has relaxin in their system so she didn’t do any actual physio and just gave me advice verbally on what to do and what not to do, all of which I already knew.

did the physio actually do any physio

Auto correct issue

The NHS physio I saw manually put my pelvis back where it was supposed to be. Not that it stayed there for long.

Thanks that’s good to know. I might try a different physio.

This is why you really need to go private, as manual therapy is essential, and a private physio or osteo will do it.

It was private :(

Whaaat?! In that case I guess you need to ask when you book and ensure you only book someone who will do manual therapy.
pelvicpartnership.org.uk/treatment-manual-therapists/

Please don’t worry yourself silly and assume you’ll end up on crutches because of everyone’s comments, everyone who’s commented have just been through it and that’s why they’ve commented, plenty of women don’t end up on crutches too. I have more friends who had spd and didn’t have cructhes than did.

Unfortunately I was another who ended up with crutches in my last pregnancy from 33weeks, had csection at 39weeks then. I’m currently 34 weeks this time and so far have avoided the crutches this time and praying I hold out to my csection date without them this time by not overdoing it at all! That’s what I did wrong last time!

My spd is bad again so I’m booked to start hydrotherapy with the nhs antenatal women’s physio this week which helped last time and they did acupuncture too (didn’t help so much) wish I’d gone sooner but anyway. The support belts are ok too and sleeping with the pillow and support. Everyone on here has given you great advice. Biggest advice is listen to your body and do as little as possible to aggravate it, if that means being signed off from work then so be it! No one is going to thank you for staying on at work as long as possible and destroying your pelvis in the meantime x

Also - just to clarify - I started on crutches, but after a few sessions of pregnancy osteopathy I didn’t need them anymore. The first time I went, the osteopath did some gentle movement but the area was too painful to work directly on the joints. He worked up to it in the next few sessions and then honestly it made so much difference.