You are pregnant and have been happily sailing along until this pelvic pain started. Now, you can not turn in bed without pain, climbing the stairs is a nightmare and even just bending over is painful. For some ladies even just walking is painful!

You are concerned and rightly so. Consequently, you head to your health care professional supporting you with your pregnancy and perhaps you were told …

“You have Pelvic Girdle Pain or PGP”.

and/or

“It will go once the baby comes”.

It may be the first time you have ever heard of Pelvic Girdle Pain … So what is it and do you really have to put up with it?

What is Pelvic Girdle Pain?

PGP is a condition which affects up to one in five pregnant women. It is sometimes called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction but this term is a little narrow as there is a wide range of symptoms. The severity of the symptoms also varies between women.

To understand this issue more we need to understand your hip bones (pelvis). The pelvis is made up of a ring of three bones fitting neatly together. These joints normally and happily move a little bit to allow you to do things like walk, bend or climb stairs.

With PGP, often one joint can become stiff and stops moving normally. This can cause irritation and pain in the area of tension. Plus this tension can sometimes escalate and spread to surrounding muscles and joints. Then everything starts to compensate due to altered function and movement. This can happen due to:

• – An underlying joint stiffness or previous pelvic or back problem or injury that is irritated by the hormonal changes or when the baby grows larger later in pregnancy.
• – A slip, fall or other accident during pregnancy at any stage.
• – Postural problems (may be a work-related or hobby-related).
• – Underlying joint hypermobility or a hypermobility syndrome which can make you more prone to PGP due to already less stable joints.

Maybe you have been told Pelvic Girdle Pain is a hormonal issue.

However, while your changing hormones during pregnancy impact on PGP it is not the sole cause. Finding and addressing the cause is vital. Then supporting recovery with gentle hands-on care and some tailored home advice helps many ladies feel a lot more comfortable.

PGP is a treatable condition for most ladies. Please remember that PGP is a common and can be safely treated at any stage during (or after) pregnancy.

How does care work for Pelvic Girdle Pain?

As with all clients, first we go through an initial consultation to ascertain the relevant information about your issue and background. Following this, if care is suitable for you, we proceed with safe, gentle hands-on care. Some women need two or three treatment sessions to recover from PGP, however others may need regular hands-on care throughout their pregnancy.

There is no “one-size-fits-all”, as you are unique and your pregnancy is unique.

If you have been told you have Pelvic Girdle Pain and are looking for a gentle, non-invasive method of support, contact the clinic today to arrange your first visit. If you have pelvic pain that has been getting worse, I would recommend you seek support. I am more than happy to have a chat on the phone if you have any questions.

Remember, you only have one body and addressing a problem sooner rather than later is best.

Natural Back Health is a private professional service providing gentle, low force and safe therapy to bring about healing and relief. I will support your recovery out of pain and back to enjoying your pregnancy. I have a whole health and body philosophy to my treatments. My plan of care generally includes tailored advice on stress management, nutrition, exercise, sleep and in-house gentle manual therapy.

Read more about what to expect from my treatments.

If you have any further questions regarding this topic please do not hesitate to contact the clinic on 087 1815007 or here.

Hopefully you find the general information on this page informative and helpful, however it is not intended to replace medical advice and should not be used as such.