*sigh* SI joint frustration

[AliceMay]

Hi Everybody:

I am almost 33 weeks pregnant. I had noticed "something" going on in my lower back area - not "pain" but just, something, about a week ago. And then a few days ago things got more uncomfortable. I haven't been diagnosed by a doctor, but in reading into what I was experiencing (to make sure I was doing the right thing) I'm pretty sure it's the SI joint. I've read other people's comments about this and they talk about very bad pain, which is not my experience, however, walking is problematic. I can get around the house, but when I go out to try and walk anyway I have to go very very slowly, and it seems to make it worse because it's more uncomfortable later. of course, when I didn't know what the issue was I was trying to stretch it out, and hoping walking would actually help, so I may have just been making it worse. I'm trying now to rest it up in the hopes that it will go away but I feel very frustrated about this. First of all, I walk everywhere! It's my primary mode of transportation! Secondly, a HUGE part of feeling confident about the birth and staying healthy was to stay active, and now I'm afraid I'm going to be stuck with this for the next seven weeks. :( Really, I know I shouldn't complain because some people have real problems, but I guess I'm just not very patient at being side-lined. 

Fortunately I do swim, and I'm consoling myself by saying I can maybe step up from 3 times a week to 5 or something, if I can't walk anywhere (though I then have to find a way to GET to the pool) so hopefully I can stay fit. 

Ok, so that was my rant! Does anybody have any advice for me? Things I should do, things I shouldn't do? Of course, probably going to physio would be best for telling me how to deal with this (in a more detailed way than just rest) and I hope to do this, but to get it covered I have to get referred by a doctor so first I need that appointment, and then another......so I'm looking for something to make me feel like I'm being proactive on this while I wait. Anybody wear one of those belts? I wonder if it's worth getting one?

Sorry for the long post and rant! Any advice would be appreciated. I'm now going to do some research and see what I can discover.

[BarefootScientist]

I don't really have advice, but I wanted to and commiserate. My SI joint has been bothering me since the beginning of the 2nd tri, but it doesn't sound as severe as yours. Walking actually feels good for me, once I get moving. Getting up and starting is tough and hurts like heck though. A few exercises that seem to relieve some of the pain for me are pelvic tilts, and sitting on my knees and then putting my hands behind me and sticking my belly up as far as it goes. And then after stretching or walking, I try not to sit down for a while right away because when I get up again it will hurt. But long-term it seems to make a little difference.

I hope yours improves.

[AliceMay]

Goodness...I was really complainy, wasn't I? it really isn't that bad, I just love getting out and active. I just made a physiotherapist appointment for next Monday so hopefully I can get lots of info on exercises and things to avoid. (I'll share if I get any good info). Until then, I'm just going to spend lots of time in the pool! But I will now follow your advice of not sitting for to long and get up from the computer! thanks for commiserating - hopefully yours doesn't get any more bothersome.

[BarefootScientist]

Oh, no, feel free to complain! I moan to my husband all the time about this and other pregnancy things, some of which are just annoyances.

[SGVaughn]

Im going to give you some counterintuitive advice...but its advice thats really helped me with both si joint pain thats severe at times and spd (they tend to go together)

sit in the taylors position as much as possible...squat a lot...wall squats with a fitness ball if you want to make an actual exercise out of it

try to keep your knees bent if youre standing and shift from side to center to side to center..constantly ..you'll automatically center this way

and walk with a very open stride long..not guarded strides

this is my fourth pregnancy and the two before this I had very bad spd..the traditional keep your legs together take shorts steps blah blah blah western medicine advice got me no relief and begging to have babies early because I was in agony

this go around, Im uncomfortable but Im not crying every night

good luck....and not to minimize it at all but 7 weeks really isnt that long considering how far youve come already :)

[eastmillcreekmama]

I have a finicky SI joint that predates my pregnancy. I have spent A LOT of time trying to figure out what to do about it. Here's a few suggestions:

I have one of those belts, and it really does seem to help. You wear it low, around your trochanters (head of femur) and tighten as much as possible. It just stabilizes the joint, and I find it reduces pain. THe only trouble with wearing it while pregnant is that it is difficult to bend over becuase it pokes into my belly. But you could try it, or you could even tie a scarf around your hips to see if the basic action even helps at all before you invest in the belt.

Next, after a lot of physical therapy, etc., I realized that I was turning my feet out whenever I bent over. This places extra strain on your SI joint while bending over. Focusing on making my legs strong and keeping my feet parallel when I bend over is a better alternative. If I need more space, I can widen my stance or bend my knees when I bend over. I was shocked how much this affected the pain.

Also, cat-cow pose (get onto all fours and arch your back like a cat, and then sag your spine like a cow) helps mobilize the sacrum for me, and keep things loose.

Hope all this helps you, and I hope your pain gets better!

[SGVaughn]

serola belt is a good one to stay out of the way for the belly and very easy to get adjusted to the right tension....I use one weight lifting and my leg press weight jumped like 70 lbs with just putting the si belt on

[AliceMay]

Thanks you for all your advice. I went to the pool yesterday and while swimming was not as pain free as I hoped it was definitely possible - just had to be a little careful to make sure I wasn't making anything worse. And after I did my 40 laps I also did a bit of pool walking, which is great. 

I will take all your advice on board! I also have my pregnancy yoga tonight, and the teacher said she would help me learn helpful postures and things to avoid. I keep reminding myself that I am lucky - I feel pretty good otherwise, just very much dislike having a hard time getting around. And 7 weeks is not long, I just may have to be creative about what kind of exercise I do for that time. 

thanks again!

[anne1140]

I have had SI joint pain due to the fact that I have high arches and tend to subpronate. A PT will definitely help. He or she can give you exercises to do and stretches to do. They helped me until I became pregnant, and now I am having some pain again, but not as bad as before. Before, some episodes had me in tears. I've also had sciatica this pregnancy, so it would make sense if they do go hand in hand. A lot of people don't know how to tell the difference, but having dealt with both, I can say that the SI joint pain stays to one area, the little "nook" above one side of your butt, where the sciatica radiates throughout the butt and down the leg. Very pleasant.

I hope the PT helps. I will say that I think I remember the doctor telling me that swimming could make it worse, because if you're having SI joint trouble, it means that one SI joint is too loose (making the other overcompensate), which could aggravate that. I don't know if you read this, but interestingly, the side that you have pain on is actually the opposite SI joint that's really causing the trouble.

ETA: As far as exercise goes, I was told that the elliptical was okay and wouldn't aggravate it. I found that cycling didn't aggravate it, either. Anything with walking/running did, though. Basically, you want to avoid anything high-impact. I know swimming is not, but there's the problem of being too flexible in the water.

[zuzunel09]

Hi there, SI joint pain is very common during pregnancy.  Do you feel the pain down through your hips/legs, or is it just local?  If it's just localized around your sacrum, especially on one side, it is probably due to the joint-loosening effect of the relaxin hormone that is preparing you for childbirth.  But if you had a back injury or SI imbalance pre-pregnancy, however mild, your new weight distribution can cause strain in that area, too.  Sleeping exclusively on your side aggravates this also, so using a body pillow between your knees helps a lot.  I have found massage, ice, warm baths, self massage with a tennis ball, and stretching to be helpful.  You shouldn't stop walking, either, just take it easy and use ice when you get back from a walk.  Use a bag of frozen peas or a freezable gel pak for 15-20 minutes on the area (until numb) and repeat once an hour or so while the pain is bad.  You can also take a foam roller or tennis ball and position it under your sacrum (on the side of the joint that hurts) while lying on the floor with your legs bent and gently roll it back and forth across the joint.  If you don't want to lay on your back, you can do this in a chair or against a wall, too.

I'm not usually this bossy, but I'm a massage therapist and my first pregnancy I had TERRIBLE SI pain, so I tried pretty much everything.

[AliceMay]

I am now very sure that this is SI pain because it is very local, doesn't spread, hurts when I "push off" when walking. Also, when I went to yoga my teacher got me to explain how it feels and said "yes, that is classic SI pain". 

I haven't "stopped walking", and fortunately I'm at home these days so I move about a fair bit. But it is tricky to use walking in daily life to get anywhere because I have to go SO slow. I have also been icing. I was a bit sad to see somebody recommend not swimming, and certainly, I do feel it when I swim (though pool walking seems good). I swam yesterday. I figured I should be careful, but I also want to keep moving because I figure not moving would cause a whole other bunch of problems. Hopefully when I have my physiotherapy session I can get some good answers about things. 

So....is stretching good?? It feels good. But since the problem is that the joint is more relaxed I didn't know if stretching it was not good. 

I'll give the tennis ball thing a try. And I do sleep with a body pillow, and that is quite comfortable. 

Thanks for weighing in everybody!

[PAgreenmama]

a chiropractor can really help too.  however, you are likely to be dealing with it on and off for the rest of your pregnancy as others have said.  but 7 weeks really isn't a long time.  these last few weeks aren't the most comfortable for anyone :)

[CinCanada]

Great suggestions for the stretching & squats so far.  I've had the whole enchallada this pregnancy - SI pain, sciatica & IT band issues.  I've found that my posture & the way I sit during the day makes a big difference.  If I slouch in my office chair then I tend to put a lot of pressure on my tail bone & it makes the SI much more painfull.  I've found that massage is a HUGE help (as awkward as it is to have someone massage your bum...) & there is a tonne of fantastic advice here:  http://www.katysays.com/2011/03/07/when-push-comes-to-shove/ 

Lots of pics & info on how to do the squats properly to help open up your hips & tone pelvic floor etc.

[Hannahkatiebell]

I saw a physical therapist who specializes in pregnant women and it was sooooo helpful! I've already starting noticing it rearing it's ugly head during my first trimester this time. Ugh.

[dot1]

I had terrible pain in the SI joint area - worst actually after the baby was born.  Tried chiropractor who ended up making things worse.  Then saw a physiotherapist who prescribed some exercises to stabilize the core muscles that provided the stability that the ligaments just weren't giving - physio was great.

But by far the thing that helped the most was a registered massage therapist who specializes in prenatal/postnatal massage and TRIGGER point release (NOT at all the same as accupressure!).  Turns out that I had some knots in my gluteal muscles (periformis) near the hip joint that were REFERRING pain into the SI joint area.  One session, some intense referred pain, followed by a knot that spasmed and finally released and I had intense relief.  Sometimes there a knots right beside the SI joint that cause problems.  More often than not, SI joint problems are moreso a problem with the surrounding muscles.  Also, a tight iliopsoas muscles (hip flexors) can stress the SI joints - lay on a couch and let one leg dangle down and you should feel a stretch on them - as long as it doesn't hurt, it's good. 

The chiropractor was actually doing more harm in trying to further loosen my other SI joint....when what I needed was some relaxation of trigger points and some tightening of the muscles around the joint.  As soon as I switched to the massage/physio combination I felt a million times better. 

Everyone's different, but thought I'd share my experience.  I would personally stay away from the high force/high velocity movement of a chiropractor or anyone who does high speed/highforce joint manipulation (sudden movements).  There's just too much risk of harm by overstressing the supporting ligaments.  Gentle physiotherapy for hip/pelvis stabilizing exercises and massage therapy can't do any harm though.  Likewise, the belt mentioned by another poster can help too (and you can simulate one with scarf, etc)...or even make one out of a soft, low stretch wide band of material and some velcro.