Incredible Achy Hips

[sarahnh]

Hoping someone can help... My hips are incredibly painful, hurts when i walk, move in fact all the time.

Never had this in first pregnancy so any advice tips would be grately appreciated!!!

It might be SPD. How pregnant are you? It's likely to get worse as the pregnancy progresses if not dealt with. Sorry. There are lifestyle changes and exercises that can help though. I'd ask the MW for a referral to a physio.

oh dear it does sound a bit like SPD or pelvic girdle pain
a good support belt specifically for your pelvis can help a lot
also rest, possibly some physio, and sleep with a pillow between your knees

I'm also incredibly achey down my thighs and at the top of my legs - could this also be SPD? I'm only 12 weeks pg and never experienced it in either of my previous pregnancies!

Yep... SPD.

thanks for this.. i'm nearly 29 weeks x

Oh goodness, last thing I need with a two year old and a four year old to walk back and forth to nursery/park/play-dates. Do I have to restrict walking? Haven't even seen a mw yet!

Apologies for hijack sarahnh

You might have to restict walking, I certainly had to, towards the end. I didn't run into trouble until 20 plus weeks though.

Support belt and physio definitely helped.

Walking straight and evenly can be OK, especially if you push a pushchair (which can stablise you). The things that make it worse tend to be things like swimming breaststroke, sleeping on your side without a pillow between your legs, walking up stairs, stepping over things, stepping sideways, getting out of a car - basically anything where your body is assymetrical or you legs are forced open.

The later on in the pregnancy that it develops, the better, as it tends to get worse as you get bigger and heavier as the pregnancy progresses.

It's worth having it diagnosed properly, to be honest, as it can make a difference to your birth options.

Not all SPD is the same. I have it and it means I can't walk very comfortably and sleeping is disturbed due to hip pain, obstetric physio gave me exercises and pelvic girdle which help greatly. I have been advised not to balance on one leg (even to step into knickers etc!) I'm fine swimming breaststroke and no problems opening my legs. Ask your GP or midwife if you can get a referral to obstetric physio or attend a back care in pregnancy day at your local physio, I did this and was able to then self refer, only waiting a few days for an appointment. Don't leave it and suffer as it can have implications post pregnancy. Good luck.

Hi, I am a lurker but felt I had to add my experience.

I started with SPD at about 24 weeks ish but didn't get it diagnosed til 28. My midwife was not helpful - "oh, it'll be SPD - not much you can do about that". When I suggested that if it got much worse, looking after my 16 month daugther was going to get rather tricky she went on to say "well, if it gets MUCH worse speak to your GP and we might be able to get a physio appointment"

Not good enough for me, OH works away during week, family not close by etc etc. So I did some research and it appeared that osteopathy and chiropractic were recommended for sufferers of SPD. I KNOW it isn't an option for everybody to have a private treatment like this, which is a shocker, but I have been going to a chiropractor for 4 weeks and feel like new. EVERYBODY has commented on how much better I seem and how much better I'm moving. My chiropractor has a specialism in pre and post-nata care and has been fab. I honestly think I may have been on crutches by now (35 weeks) but I actually ran the other day- without thinking.

Hope this is of some help

what the dickens did your chiropractor do then robino? I paid for private physio but she couldn't really do much, and the NHS physio has signed me off

Hi Franny,

Honestly can't tell you what she does other than chiropractic "adjustments" as they are known. She works on my neck, spine, pelvis, knees, sacrum (the very lower back) and buttocks; sometimes with exercises, some massage, some "cracking" (sorry can't be more technical!) and some bits she "clicks" with a little machine known as an adjustor.

I asked her a bit about it because if you read pregnancy books and talk to any of the midwives I have encountered they pretty much suggest it's a hormonal problem. My chiro said that yes, the relaxin does exacerbate the problem but you can't give birth without it and that actually there must be a misalignment of the pelvis to start with that you might not notice until the relaxin kicks in and that the misalignment might well have been caused or worsened during first preg/ labour (or not!)

She's basically worked on my whole body and improved my posture but I now swear by it so I;m sorry if I sound a bit crazy evangelica! I hadn't realised how bad I had felt and how difficult looking after DD had become because the SPD had kind of "crept up on me" but now I feel relatively normal (do have worse days)I can appreciate how bad it had got. I do know that she has recently treated a lady who had it so badly that she was on crutches and is now feeling so good that she's going for a home birth and she has various other testimonials too.

That great big waffle prob hasn't helped at all but if there are any more q's I'll try to answer!

oh lord, I really can't afford it, well not if it doesn't work (you know what I mean)
the physio did say it can be because of underlying physical problems but she couldn't find anything major - just said (like everyone else) that you just have to wait until the baby is born and then it should go away

oh dear

am very glad for you, how wonderful you got the help you needed

It's so rotten that the help isn't available to everyone - and that so few medical people seem to know very much about it at all because it's bloody horrid.

All I will say is that if you decide you might be able to afford some it's prob worth calling a few chiros/ osteos and asking around. I had a close call with an osteo, his receptionist said that he knew how to deal with it and booked me in. Fortunately he called me to talk about it, said the most important thing to do was rest with feet up (dead easy with 15 month old..),not to expect too much cos it's difficut to treat and to bring OH's leather belt so he could show me how to strap myself up (hmmmmmmmm, maybe other alarm bells should have been ringing!)and how to/ not to move. This made me think "not sure this will be worth the money". As soon as I asked my current chiro what she knew about SPD she was able to convince me that she at least had a clue about it and might actually be able to do something! The fact that she's also pregnant reassured me too.

I've been seeing my osteopath as well as my physio, which I think has helped immensely. I have a lot of experience with physio, they're normally a bit clueless but I've been really lucky with this one! Ask around for a recommendation.

The best physios to see are the ones that are specially trained for antenatal/postnatal care, but not every hospital seems to have them.

Hiya. You should try and see an osteopath or chiropractor. I've had spd twice - last pregnancy and this. Saw an NHS physio for the first pg and she was delightful - NOT!- told me it was my own fault for getting pregnant too quickly after my first pg and I even had ask for crutches. Was on crutches from 16 weeks pg. NOW, have spd again but have a fantastic osteopath - seeing him this morning actually. Although the pain is there, I have only had to use crutches once or twice and haven't had to use a belt (hate em anyway). I think it's shocking that this treatment isn't more widely available to people - it's expensive at £35 a time and I'd like to have the money for other things but at least I don't cry all the time now. Good luck, hope you get the help you need.

For a very brief relief sensation, put on some hot pants from the tumble dryer! Lovely .

oh using a hot or cold pack (the kind for sports injuries) has helped me

Yep,

Chiro recommended 10 mins on/ 10 mins off and repeat as needed with one of those flexible ice packs. Works nicely when I have a relapse - if only I could remember to put the blooming thing back in the freezer!