Has anyone healed from a torn pubic symphysis?

[jrose_lee]

Has anyone had any experience with this type of injury?  Anyone healed from it completely?

During the birth of my last son I injured my pubic symphysis.  I had no problems with symphysis pubic dysfunction (spd) during the pregnancy and never have.

Suddenly after the birth I could barely walk, sit, couldn't roll over in bed or crawl on my knees without pain.  Stairs were nearly impossible.

It is now one year after the birth and I still have a small amount of pain there. 

I'm just wondering if anyone has ever healed completely from this or if this is just how I will be from now on. 

I'm also hoping to TTC another baby this Fall and wondering how this might impact the condition?  I wouldn't want to make it worse, but I do want more children. 

I can live with it and am not in large amounts of pain anymore, but I can tell it's not completely back to normal.  Stairs are still a problem as well.

I would just love to hear from someone who has been through this.

Thank you!

[womenswisdom]

Have you seen a physical therapist specializing in pelvic disorders? You might also benefit from chiropractic. Typically pregnancy does cause spd to worsen, unfortunately, so it's best to get things in the best shape possible beforehand.

[olive&pimiento]

I had this injury and healed completely, though it took a long time.  I felt it tear, sort of felt like it unzipped, during the fourth hour of pushing with my first baby.  The next few days were horrible.  I was in so much pain I could not move at all.  It took weeks to do stairs and I used a walker for 6 weeks.  At eight months pp my back still clicked when I walked, my pubis symphysis ached,  and I could not get onto the floor to play with my baby.  That is when I started chiropractic care and it made all the difference.  I think my pelvis was just not in alignment and therefore could not really come back together and heal completely.  After the second visit the clicking was gone.  I started taking pilates classes to strengthen my core and also did lots of kegals to sort of pull myself together from the inside.  I was very worried about future pregnancies, but they went really well.  I did have pain and had to take it easy, but it went away when I rested.  Vacuuming was the most difficult because of the twisting motion of the pelvis.  My second and third babies just fell out :)

There is an excellent book called "Relieving Pelvic Pain During and After Pregnancy: How Women Can Heal Chronic Pelvic Instability" by Cecile Rost, PT.  I followed her exercises during my following pregnancies and it really taught me how to realign my pelvis myself.  I can't recommend this book enough.

Please feel free to pm me if you want to talk or have any questions.  Not many people know how difficult this is to deal with.

Good Luck,

Nicole

[jrose_lee]

Thank you everyone. 

I went to a chiro a couple of times right after the birth and it improved it enough for me that I could function.  I went to a women's physical therapist twice and she gave me some exercises to do.  I need to get better about doing them every day though. 

And thank you, Nicole, for the book recommendation.  It is nice to hear you were able to have more children and still have it heal properly.  I may pm you with a couple of questions and I'm ordering the book right away!
 

[tracyamber]

i had my son almost two years ago and it has gottan a lot better. i too was wondering if it would get worse if i had another child. the only thing now is when i lay down like for bed i have to put a pillow between my legs or it becomes painful the next day. let me know if you find anything interesting from that book.