Unbearable hip pain 8 months post partum

[poorlittlefish]

I gave birth naturally to a 9lbs 9oz baby girl in June of last year.  Since about 4 months post partum I have been dealing with very bad hip pain that radiates into my lower back.  I also think that is something going on with my sciatica because if I sit in my glider, nursing with my feet up, it is unbearable.  I do co-sleep which I believe is making it worse due to lying on my side all night.  It is to the point now though where I can't lay on my back either since the pain radiates to my lower back.

I went for a massage a month ago and it didn't help because I was tense the whole time because anytime my hip would move, it would hurt.  The MT suggested going to a chiro as she could feel a real different in my left hip VS my right.  I went and he took some x-rays which showed that my lower back was way out of alignment (went to the side in the lumbar area).  He felt that the hip issue might be a overcompensation thing due to my back.  I have been seeing him 2 times per week for the last month and my back is much better.  My hip on the other hand is not.  He is working on it but I need to be done seeing him by March 1 (that is when my high deductable insurance plan starts over for the year and I won't be able to afford to continue). 

The chiro said that things can get out of whack when you give birth to larger babies.  Has anyone else had this issue and is there anything that I can try?  I stretch it as much as I can and I know I need to exercise more but with a 3 year old and an 8 month old and working full time, I can honestly say there is not time.

I am really struggling and it is starting to get me down emotionally as I feel like I can't live with this pain for another 8 months!

Thanks in advance for your help.

[flightgoddess]

I'd suggest to continue with chiro, or find another chiro. Many chiros have bulk visit purchase plans if you don't want/can't afford to go through insurance. (But then they don't count for deductable...but they would still count if you itemize taxes)

Did your chiro check for leg lenghth discrepancy? (My chiro found that I have one leg shorter than the other, my back alignment is improved when wearing a lift in my shoe, but I find my back and hip will start to hurt after a day or two if I don't use the lift)

Is the hip that hurts the one you 'favor' for holding baby? Or if it is it your right, maybe you need a special orthotic/pillow/seatcover/thingy for your car when you drive, so your pelivs/hip are not as strained?

Do you use one of those pillows for side sleeping that you can put between your legs for better positioning and alignment?

I'm sure your chiro will have contacts/companies/websites/suggestions regarding products you can try.

[beebalmmama]

I had sciatica issues with both pregnancies and post partum both times. It seems as if my hips readjusting both into and out of pregnancy  kind of freak out. I also know for me I have horrible alignment in my hips and tend to jut my femurs forward. For example if you were standing and pull your butt in to flatten it, the femurs come out of the hip socket and come forward. When I carry ds in a carrier or on my hip I started noticing how I kept taking my weight forward in my hips. Sitting with poor posture and rounding your back can do this too and in response overtime the psoas area shortens and the sciatic nerve gets compressed. There can be several reasons for sciatica but this is what rings true for me. I've only figured it out for myself after an extensive yoga practice and two pregnancies. There are different stretches and some yoga poses that help for sciatic pain.

[mbravebird]

This is exactly what I have been dealing with. I dealt with it after the last pregnancy, too. I just found out that it is the psoas muscle. It can affect the sciatic nerve, but the trouble originates with the psoas. The psoas muscle is on the inside, so can't be reached by a massage. It attaches the bottom of the spine to the top of the femur. When you sit with your legs at a 90 degree angle, or when you lift your legs, the psoas is what's mostly being used.

The psoas can either be acutely injured and cause pain, or it can overtighten in response to an old injury, and cause chronic pain in the hips, lower back, and sometimes shoulders. When it overtightens, it pulls the bottom of the spine to one side. That can in turn affect the top of the spine, and of course the lower back and hips.

There are excercises you can do that will slowly, over time, relax the psoas muscle. The quickest I ever got it fixed, though, was after my first pregnancy, during a craniosacral session. She was working in the hip area, and when I got up my pain was entirely gone and never came back until my second pregnancy. I think pregnancy really uses and taxes the psoas muscle, and mine tightened again this past pregnancy. I'm in the process of looking for a good craniosacral therapist now -- mine is not available for a while.

Hope that helps!! It's awful pain, isn't it??

[karen1968]

I had pelvic, hip and low back pain for two years following my DS's birth (and he was only 6 pounds!). I finally got relief after three or four months of once-weekly private pilates machine lessons. It was expensive, but since my chiro only offered temporary relief, and we suggesting saline shots, I feel it was worth it.

With this pregnancy, I got some cranial-sacral work, and it was AMAZING. I didn't even really notice, but i had NO hip/back pain after a couple of sessions around 6-7 months pregnant. I got no work after 8 months, and at three months post-partum still had no pain. The only other thing I did different was some stretching/exercises from the book "Relieving Pelvic Pain During and After Pregnancy". The exercises are simple and not time-consuming (like, less than ten minutes) but seemed to really make a difference for me.

If it is truly tight muscles, stretching and exercise are your best bets for relieving the pain. I used to stretch while sitting next to my son's bed and waiting for him to fall asleep. A pillow between the knees while side-lie nursing helps, too, but I night weaned my son at 15 months partially because of the pain. :(