SPD thread!

[MaerynPearl]

For us to commiserate and give suggestions on how to make our symphysis pubis dysfunction not so bad.


First... does anyone else have a birth ball? Does it seem to make the SPD worse for you? I hurt SO bad after sitting on mine but Im afraid to sit on a chair instead in case I hurt WORSE... since when I started sitting on it instead of a chair I actually hurt less after sitting on the ball...

[sarahn4639]

I had it with my last pregnancy, but thankfully not yet this time at 20 weeks. For me, chiro was absolutely necessary to me being able to function as a person. I had difficulty walking, laying down, rolling over, etc. I saw my chiro twice weekly for a few weeks and then weekly. She also sent me home with some exercises. I also found a maternity support belt to be very helpful.

[CookAMH]

The birth ball made mine worse, it seemed to stress the ligament. Small doses of it though was fine.

Chiro care helped. I also had to quit my practice of squatting to prepare for labor .

I wonder how it'll be with this second pregnancy...only a few weeks along.

Anyone else have it with one but not the next?? I'm hopeful! I do know some things to avoid aggrevating it that I did last time, and will avoid this time.

I've also heard the support belts to be helpful...I will get one this time if it starts to bother me.

For me with sitting (I sat at a desk every day at work for months), I had to get my butt back into the chair, spread my legs as much as I could, and lean forward some and sort of rest my belly forward. I also added a pillow or two underneath me, that helped a lot. And, getting up frequently to walk around was a great help too.

[Lyndzies]

Chiro has worked WONDERS for me. I went 3x a week for about a month, then weekly, and now I'm on an every other week "maintenance" schedule until about 36 weeks, when I'll start going weekly again to prepare for labor.

I still do have quite a bit of pain when turning over in bed and getting in and out of bed, also putting pants and undies on... but the constant "OMG, my pelvis is going to shatter in pieces" pain has subsided. Thank the universe, because my midwife had prescribed me narcotics it had gotten so horrible.

Even though it can be a bit torturous, I've found that forcing myself to get up out of me desk chair every hour or two for a stroll around the office keeps my pelvis from stiffening/locking up. I haven't tried a birth ball yet, but have been wanting to...

[etsdtm99]

3rd baby, first time SPD here.. it just started to get bad for me a couple weeks ago.. really limiting my activities in general.. i make a point not to stand on one leg or pick things up with my feet anymore .. and between that and not bending over things just stay on the floor.. walking is really bad for me, but walking while pushing a stroller or shopping cart is WAY worse so i try to avoid that.. walking while holding one of the kids hands while they pull on me is horrible too..

the birth ball helps me i think.. in small doses .. its better than a chair for sure, but laying on the couch/bed propped up with pillows is better than either..

i am also seeing a chiropractor weekly at this point, but may be going more with how much worse i'm feeling.. i really hope he can help but i'm trying not to get my hopes up, i've already been seeing him the entire pregnancy and this happened anyway, it probably would have been worse otherwise..

[Lyndzies]

For those of you seeing a chiro, is s/he using an activator (metal device) to adjust your pubis symphysis and is s/he experienced with the Webster technique? My chiro attributes my feeling better to both of these techniques. Also really stressed the importance of coming 3x a week when it was really bad to make sure my body could hold the adjustments.

[Earthy Mama]

I hate the activator. I won't let mine use it. I'm at 25+5 and have had it bad for about 3 weeks now.

[MaerynPearl]

This is baby #3 and first time SPD for me too. Though I did find out after mentioning that I have it that a lot of women in my family get it.

I have a support belt I have been using for months but its getting to the point now that I don't really want to even leave my house anymore... even with the belt its hard.

Luckily I am 35 weeks today. I dont have too much time left.

[etsdtm99]

my chiro is just doing webster and normal adjusting.. i feel much better after seeing him, still in pain, but i feel more balanced and my leg doesn't feel like its going to fall off anymore ..

[BaMo]

Bumping this back up. I'm glad to have found this thread, although I would never wish SPD on anyone.

I started having issues around week 24, I ignored it and did more yoga thinking it would get better. It didn't. The past few weeks it hurts so much just to walk/move/turn/get up. I finally got into seeing a chiro this week and have been 2x. I'm seeing a little improvement. She does both websters and the activator.

I'm going in on Tuesday and hope that we can get this under control.

I'm really worried about how it is going to effect me in labor.

[shoefairy3]

I had really bad pain with my last pregnancy. I spent 5 weeks in around months 7 and 8 where I literally could not walk without pain. It got a smidgen better closer to my EDD. As far as I recall, it didnt affect me during labor.

[karen1968]

I had mild SPD with DS, that lasted for two years after his birth, despite regular chiro care. My chiro was ready to suggest some really radical treatments (like saline injected into the ligament!). It really only went away after I started doing Pilates machine classes, which I know are too expensive for most people.

This pregnancy, it started back up at ~12-14 weeks, went away for a bit, and now is back. But still very mild compared to most. I am still doing Pilates 1xweek and chiro 2-3xmonth.

A poster on another SPD thread recommended the book "Relieving Pelvic Pain during and after pregnancy" - it's written by a Belgian PT who had SPD bad with at least one of her pregnancies. She claims to have a high success rate with the exercises presented. I bought the book, but have really only done the two basic exercises. I think it is helping to keep things stable.

The one that I think helps the most is laying on my back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Then let legs "flop" to the sides, kind of like butterfly pose. You are meant to try and relax as much as possible and let the legs become symmetrical. It is hard! But I do think this stretching of the groin/inner thigh helps with releiving the "pull" on the front of the pelvis. My left - where I have pain - is definitely tighter than the right.

Hope this helps someone!

[EnchantedMamma]

Ask your midwife about Sepia (homeopathy).

Chiro also helped. Can't remember what else I did.

[ILovePie]

I had it horribly in pregnancy number one, vague touches of it here and there this time - almost like nerve memory or something? I was also on side-lying bedrest for 9 weeks last time, so my pelvis went waaaaaay out of alignment and the SPD got so much worse.

My son engaged at 34 weeks and (I think because I was always on my left side) remained with the back of his head against the left side of my pelvis.

I'm feeling the most pain there this time, but it is just a shadow of the pain I had with my first pregnancy.

I had almost no use of my left leg by the time DS was born. DH would have to help me put on my underwear and pants some days. It was horrible.

Stuff I did to manage it last time (and am doing a bit of now - I wouldn't say I have all out SPD, but I do have some pain rolling in bed and stuff):
-warm baths, stretching my low back and hamstrings while in there (bend over and try to touch your toes)
-squeezing my knees together against a pillow or my fists before I moved in bed or stood up from a seated position (I'm doing this now - it really helps when something irritates the joint).
-moving periodically (obviously the 9 weeks on bedrest were hopeless on this..)

I did eventually take pain medication for it when I stood up off the couch and could neither get myself to the bathroom nor get back onto the couch. I was kind of stuck there...I actually had to call someone to help me take a bath.

Prevention this time:
-I worked a lot on my core before I got pregnant and continued to do core exercises during pregnancy (a pilates video once I couldn't do my usual core workout)
-saw a chiropractor with some regularity and worked on keeping my SI loose with stretching.

I don't know if the prevention worked, or if I just got lucky. Certainly bedrest made things much worse - I was on bedrest for almost a week this time and the pain started to return. I haven't been able to get it to go away, but I'm not as active (modified bedrest) and the baby is bigger and starting to feel lower.

[CookAMH]

Something I have wondered is whether SPD results in LESS of a relaxing of the pelvis for a smooth delivery. I only ask because I had an unnecesarean with DS and he didn't seem to want to come under my pubic bone very well. I've wondered off and on whether the soreness of the ligament resulted in a tighter ligament and a pelvis that could have been looser for baby to get through. My hips were on fire later in labor.

Originally Posted by karen1968

The one that I think helps the most is laying on my back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Then let legs "flop" to the sides, kind of like butterfly pose. You are meant to try and relax as much as possible and let the legs become symmetrical. It is hard! But I do think this stretching of the groin/inner thigh helps with releiving the "pull" on the front of the pelvis. My left - where I have pain - is definitely tighter than the right.

Hope this helps someone!

I will keep that exercise in mind, thank you! I am curious about the book and may check it out if SPD flares up with this pregnancy (only 7wks now).

There is a great article here on it http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/pubicpain.htm

ETA: that link actually does have info about difficulty in delivery: Click on Implications for Malpositions and Cesareans. I plan to discuss this with my chiropractor.

ETA: also this link lists some exercises which may be helpful