SPD sufferers, what helps?

[misdee]

am in agony today. as its bank holiday cant see my gp until tuesday. i suffered in 2nd pregnancy but not 3rd one.

it could be something else, but in the meantime what can i do to help with the pains?

have taken paracetamol. had a warm bath this morning instead of the shower, but was agony getting into and out of the tub.

i dont know what i can do.

dont open your legs at all.

sorry for you, its nasty.

Lots of rest Misdee! Easier said than done I know!.

Move as much as possible with legs as close together as possible, sit with legs together & stand with them together. Walk sideways down steps/stairs

No kicking shoes off with feet, no closing drawers with feet [my personal 'thing' as cannot bend well for bottom drawers!]

Put a plastic bag on car seat for easy turning. Avoid heavy lifting, pushing shopping trolleys, etc. I find hoovering very painful.

Sit on side of bed to dress, don't do standing up.

Try not to kneel down or sit on floor too much, getting up is painful & I find the hard floor really makes me ache.

painkillers and as much rest as humanly possible - really. Can older dcs or family member or friend come round and help to save your legs? Have you got a belt or bump support? Don't get up or walk about unless you absolutely have to. Feet up (but don't cross leg or ankles)

The only thing that relieved pain for me was the support; a good osteopath; crutches when I had to walk and in the end, complete bed rest. I do sympathise - it's agony.

Oh & swing legs over side of bed, together then sit up.

Don't move too fast at all, slow movements!

Be careful in & out of bath.

...and don't....WHATEVER you do, shave your legs by putting one up on the side of the bath at a time...I made this mistake. First one was OK, not to bad....second one, when I out it down was fecking agony!

As very temporary relief - an ice pack (if poss, one of those flexible ones). 10 mins on, 10 mins off, repeat as necessary. Bag of peas woud do...

As longer relief, I have replied at length to the "incredibly achy hips" thread about chiro. Sorry, no idea how to do links and am in a rush, or would offer more advice!

Good luck, it's not nice

would second ice. would second keep your legs togetger. also need to keep still on stable chair not swing round on office type chairs as they are very destabelising

i got DH to do massage exacly as the osteopth did every morning at night for 10mins. this helped incredibly and osteopath was fine with this and said he did a good job.

I found it particularly painful at night, especially trying to get 'comfy'. I bought one of those full length body pillows, which I could put between my legs and rest my bump on while lying on my side. It didn't stop the pain but eased some of the discomfort

You poor sod. My SPD was so ghastly that DD is going to be an only child.

I couldn't take baths - they just made things worse as I could never get out of them.

Have you got a support belt? like one of these (the Wiltshire one). Looks hideous but made me feel a lot better. Promedics delivered mine overnight I was so desperate for it.

An alternative to the ice pack is a hotwater bottle or one of those pads you heat up in the microwave.

Keep your knees together all the time- like you are wearing a tight skirt. Take tiny steps! Also wear trainers. In fact, as everyone else has said, do as little as humanly possible.

If you search the archives for "SPD" there is loads more advice which I found really helpful.

Erm, link to SPD support belts which I forgot to include:

www.promedics.co.uk/catalogues/Orth/P41-42%20Maternity.pdf

Get thee to an osteopath or chiropractic practitioner! Seriously

Have you checked out this?

Lots of great advice here but remember that all SPD is different. I have no problems whatsoever with opening the legs. I get bad pain at night, it helps to get up, do a few buttock clenches, stretch a bit, then get back in bed. If I'm a good girl and do the exercises my obs physio prescribed then I don't suffer half as much. If I go and see my osteopath and subsequently feel like superwoman again, I will NOT spend the day hoovering then the next day in deep regret (not to mention pain!) I do empathise, just get thee to a specialist and figure out what your limitations are.

I find that sitting upright makes mine worse, whether on the sofa or chair - I' much better if I only sit in a recliner, bean bag chair or the bed (admittedly I need some help to get out of the bean bag!)Like gillythekid I have no problems opening the legs but doing anything on one leg is agony - so ditto to sitting down to get dressed and avoiding pushing things with feet - (it's amazing how often I start to do that without thinking and then manage to stop myself just in time) Long pillow helps at night - in between knees ...and a good physio. Oh and the red cross will hire you a wheelchair (about £20 for 3 months) so at least you can go out on 'walks' or trips and stuff with family/friends

Just re read the above and it sounds a bit rude ..the pillow is for between the knees but the physio is not

Aw, what a shame, Aggiepanther. The physios I've seen in the past have been quite cute!

Trying to remember not to cross my legs at all, and to walk as little as possible - seeing midwife for physio referral on Monday and osteopath on Tuesday, so hopefully things will get less painful soon...
I might not technically be an 'elderly primagravida' but I feel pretty elderly. .