Possible to sprain round ligament?

[Squrrl]

Last night I had an upset stomach and was having lots and lots of crampy feelings and LOTS of sharp round ligament pains. I didn't do anything special or too athletic or lift anything heavy--indeed, I pursued my usual regimen of doing as little as possible more rigorously than usual! But this morning I still feel terrible, and all through the right side of my groin, my lower abdomen, and my upper/inner thigh I have this horrible ache that just won't stop.

I've tried to look online, but the only thing anyone seems to mention about round ligament pain is the usual stabbing and temporary variety that I'm all too familiar with from both pregnancies (always on the right side, too). Has anyone experienced something similar? Is it possible to sprain the round ligament like you would your ankle?

[MaerynPearl]

Please see a doctor (or your midwife)... A pain like that would be a major red flag for me.

[Squrrl]

Seriously? Nobody has anything? Neither does my midwife, via phone (she's an hour away). She wants me to get checked for appendicitis. But the pain is now four days old and improving, and it's exactly the same pain I've always had during pregnancy, only more and worse, and it's not in the same place as appendicitis, and I don't have a fever. I haven't bled at all, either. Now if I move very slowly and deliberately I can avoid the pain almost completely, but I'm still just absurdly short of breath and I can't spend the rest of my pregnancy moving around like an invalid. No one has any experience with persistent round ligament pain or a round ligament that doesn't seem up to the job or anything else that might be relevant?

[MaerynPearl]

I really wouldn't mess with it and WOULD get checked out.

I had a placental abruption, no bleeding... but pain. My doctor told me to get checked out for appendicitis. Then they did an ultrasound where they saw the abruption.

The pain did go away over some time... but the diagnosis had me on bed rest the rest of the pregnancy for my baby's safety.

Seriously, if the pain was so bad you could barely move, you cant just ignore it

[Squrrl]

Errrr...eek?

[MaerynPearl]

A doctor can examine you and rule it out fairly easily... or diagnose it and give you the correct treatment... or say its feasible and give you the correct treatment for that.

I really would not assume its a benign pain when it hurt that bad.

[gradstudentmommy]

I had bad round ligament pain for a few weeks between 34-36 weeks (or what my midwife said was long ligament pain). It was on the right side of my uterus. It hurt BAD whenever I moved, but felt better when I laid down. It was a consistent pain, not like the quick bursts of round ligament pain I had felt before. It hurt whenever I moved for as long as I was moving. It didn't go down into my groin or into my thigh though, it was just the long band that ran down the right side of my uterus.

[kittywitty]

Sounds like what happened with me with kid #3. I ran across a road really quick and pulled it. It was horrible for the next 4 weeks until she was born. Without other symptoms and if baby is moving fine, it's probably just sprained, but it's probably worth getting checked out just to rule out appendicitis.

[Squrrl]

Just to update, I did go to the emergency room, and they saw me pretty quickly and ran whatever tests they could dream up and did a sonogram, and the important part is that the baby is just fine (smuggled out a couple of illicit sonogram photos--heh) and they couldn't find anything wrong with me. So maybe I'm just back to having a perfectly healthy and miserable pregnancy like the last one. :-P Thanks for the comments. Even the ultrasound technician commented that her round ligament pain got worse with each pregnancy until by the third it was so bad that she went to the hospital a couple of times freaking out over the pain. I dunno. Hopefully we can find out more.

[Baby~Braatens~Mama]

Well, now that you have checked it out at least you can have worry free pain... Very happy that you and your LO are healthy!

[gradstudentmommy]

So glad to hear you got it checked out and everything seems to be fine with you and baby. What a relief. This pregnancy has been 10 times worse than my first and my midwives keep telling me that often subsequent pregnancies get harder and harder. It's not much consolation when you're in pain and miserable but it does ease the mind a tad.

[BlueIrises]

I've never felt pain like this in either of my other PG. I would get shrp pains if I moved too quickly with both of the other PG, but this time around I have had round the clock pain...my pain started in my groin/thigh area as if I did too many splits or something. Then is started to move upward and it literally was all the muscles cradling my belly...both sides and under too. last weekend, it was so bad it kept pulling me foward...it was crippling. I wore big supportive undies with velcro tabs as advised by my MW and that helped...but yeah I felt like I had sprained or ripped my muscles. I feel better this week for the first time is about 6 weeks. I think I did this to myself though by carrying my 3yo to his room during a tantrum.

Reading the other post...totally freaked out by the non-bleeding placental abruption...my MW keeps telling me she doesn't think it was uterine related...more muscular...but I am a worrier. However, I am feeling a gazillion times better so I need to not worry right?

[Kellyh_01]

I have felt something similar. This is my 6th pregnancy. It is the worst after hard vomiting. I can't straighten up for awhile because of the pulling sensation. And it has gotten worse with every pregnancy. Glad you got it checked out and that all is well.

[gradstudentmommy]

Originally Posted by BlueIrises

I've never felt pain like this in either of my other PG. I would get shrp pains if I moved too quickly with both of the other PG, but this time around I have had round the clock pain...my pain started in my groin/thigh area as if I did too many splits or something. Then is started to move upward and it literally was all the muscles cradling my belly...both sides and under too. last weekend, it was so bad it kept pulling me foward...it was crippling. I wore big supportive undies with velcro tabs as advised by my MW and that helped...but yeah I felt like I had sprained or ripped my muscles. I feel better this week for the first time is about 6 weeks. I think I did this to myself though by carrying my 3yo to his room during a tantrum.

Reading the other post...totally freaked out by the non-bleeding placental abruption...my MW keeps telling me she doesn't think it was uterine related...more muscular...but I am a worrier. However, I am feeling a gazillion times better so I need to not worry right?

That's EXACTLY what mine felt like. It felt like a sprain or ripping. Sometimes I swear I heart a ripping sound. And it started after lifting my 3 year old into a shopping cart. It sounds more muscular to me (though I'm not expert) since the support belt helped and you could move a certain way and make the pain go away. I know it's hard not to worry though! But wait, you had an ultrasound at the emergency room. I'm sure they checked the placenta and would have noticed any problems.