Pubic bone pain during and after pregnancy

[Pupuce]

Just wondered if any of you out there have experienced pubic bone pain during their pregnancy. I haven't seen a thread on it.
This is my 2nd pregnancy and it is worst than the first. I suffer from a mild form of a genetic disorder (called Ellers Danlos - only know this because my uncle is a geneticist... otherwise I would never have been diagnosed)... anyway it makes my ligaments EXTREMELY flexible and forces my muscles to hold my pelvis and cervix in place... the whole thing makes it very painful - burning and inflammation like pain on the pubic bone.
I have found ways to relieve the pain this time - last time no one could help me... "bear it" was the advice from the midwives "it's not that uncommon but there is little you can do about it".... this time : there was no way I'd go through this again... so a combination of osteopathy, life-force healing and reflexology seem to be doing the trick... Thank God !

Sounds like it could be Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction which I suffered with during both my pregnancies. Unfortunately for me there was nothing I could do about it except grit my teeth very hard when turning over in bed etc. I did get a fembrace from the physiotherapist which helped a little bit but when bump reached a certain size it was too uncomfortable. There is another thread on here about it and a website www.spd.org.uk (I think).

I really sympathise with you as I know how excrutiating the pain can be.

Debster.... next time see an osteopath.,.. I SWEAR it makes a MAJOR difference !

my hospital has a physio who specialises in pregnancy problems - bad backs, pubic pain etc and I'm sure would see me if I called up the midwives re: the pubic pain I've been having...just doesn't seem that bad yet !

IME, spd and its diagnosis seems to be very much influenced by the area you live in. In Worcestershire, where I live, there is a very high incidence of spd but it's as yet unknown whether this is due to the medical staff being aware of the condition and able to diagnose it quickly or an altogether more weird reason. This is that because Worcs is a so-called fairly "middle class" area, there is a high proportion of women on the pill. This eveutally affects the water supply, as it has a high level of oestrogen (sp?) in the water and that in turn affects women who drink it. The high doses of oestrogen make some pregnant women's bodies think they are nearer to birth than they really are and so loosens up the ligaments ready for birth. I think I beleive the first reason more, but it's one of the theories I 've heard thst I think is fairly interesting (and potentially worrying).

Many members of the medical profession don't recognise spd as a "real" condition and pass it off as "one of those things" that you have to oput up with when you're pregnant. However, when I went to hospital at 22 weeks with pain like has been described on this thread, the ante-natal staff were very helpful and sympathetic. I was given a stretchy support for my bump, which helped a lot. I was also advised to sleep on a binbag (!) to help me turn over more easily in bed (OK to start with but I was pregnant in high summer so it became really slippy - yuk!) I also attended a physio sessions as an outpatient and was given exercises to help build up muscles to help me cope with later pregnancy. I used crutches a bit later on as well, which seems drastic but did help. It has to be said, though, the only thing that really helped was almost total bedrest.

I sympathise, esp with those of you who have been told to grin and bear it. There is a website for spd sufferers - try doing a search on a search engine. Most of all, though, try to get an accurate diagnosis. Some of the exercises recommended for back-pain sufferers are certainly NOT advisable for spd sufferers. Good luck!

Bron - Again... I'd say... see an osteopath.... far better (IMO and others) than a physio....
Of course it's [private but results are quick and efficient