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Family Forum / Pregnancy / Pregnancy / July 2007Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD)
Just curious if anyone around here has experience this condition? I am pregnant with my third child now and this is my third time with PSD -- though it is much worse this time around! Its so frustrating having this because no one I know has ever had it, therefore no one understands the pain associated with it! Anyway, like I said, just wondering if anyone out there knows what I'm talking about. -Jen > Just curious if anyone around here has experience this condition? I am > pregnant with my third child now and this is my third time with PSD -- > though it is much worse this time around! Its so frustrating having > this because no one I know has ever had it, therefore no one > understands the pain associated with it! Anyway, like I said, just > wondering if anyone out there knows what I'm talking about. I've had 2 kids, first time SPD appeared around 30 weeks, I think it could have got quite bad, but for the fact that I was on very reduced activity levels due to painful braxton hicks, was carrying a small baby (IUGR), and delivered at 37+4. I had no treatment for it and other than feeling unstable after delivery had no problems afterwards. 2nd time around it appeared at 20 weeks, I had some chiropractic treatment and generally kept things under control until around 32 weeks, at 35 weeks I had a flare up of all over joint pain, which was agony and whilst the SPD was bad, the other pain was worse and I couldn't do any of the things that made the SPD particularly bad. I then had a difficult labour where my SP and SI joints felt like they were being torn apart and after birth it was clear that some kind of damage had been done, healing has been long and slow - not being pregnant seemed to vastly reduce the number of things that caused acute pain on doing it, but without the instant feedback, I think a lot of activities contributed to pain without me knowing. It seems to be the kind of thing that online in a group like this, there are quite a few people who at some point have had it, but in real life you rarely do and even if you do, you don't always even know it, our minds have a wonderful way of blocking out some things and until I felt the first twinge 2nd time, I had completely forgotten about it having happened first time - yet it wasn't minor at the time. there is also that you don't always continually tell people the name of what you have, so unless you end up on crutches and people specifically ask, then it doesn't get mentioned - an awful lot of people who know me quite well wouldn't actually know what the name of the problems I've had are and if you quizzed them could easily make the mistake of thinking it's back related, I've lost track of the number of times people have asked me "how my back is?". Anne Thanks for sharing your experiences and sorry to hear about all your troubles. I was about 26 weeks during my first when the pain started... well, when the pain started to get bad enough that I thought it worth mentioning to my doctor. I had physio up to a week before my due date and by that time I was next to crippled. I couldn't sit for too long, I couldn't stand for too long, I couldn't lift my left leg in the shower to shave, etc, etc! During my second pregnancy I noticed the tall tale signs immediately, I was about 22 weeks, and I ended up having to wear a maternity support belt at about 30 weeks. I am only 16 weeks now and the amount of discomfort is unreal! I wont even call it pain at this point because I can remember my other episodes all to well (my memory never let go of that!) and this is nothing compared to what it will become. I know that it is only going to get worse because I can feel things getting a little worse every few days regardless of the things that I do that I learnt in physio. I find it so frustrating because a lot of people in my family just accuse me of being too lazy and that's why it hurts... during my first pregnancy my step-mother was always on my case to walk more, do this more, so that more, or else my labour would be horrible. Little did she realize that I literally couldn't do more of anything because the amount of pain I was in! Mind you, I had no trouble during labour which I thanked my lucky stars for, not only for my own well being but also so that I didn't have to listen to that witch say "I told you so!" That is my main issue, not that people haven't heard of it or that people don't always know what it is that I have, just that so many people are so non understanding to it when they do know. I really didn't need that ridicule from her during that time. Most of my good friends couldn't tell you the name of the condition but they do know that it is something that I have had twice affecting the pelvis, which in turns affects everything else. I guess its just nice to see that someone out there knows what I'm talking about. In some odd sense its like a little support thing for me. In the mean time, how did you find the chiropractic treatment? It was also suggested to me to try massage... neither of things occurred to me before. -Jen > > Just curious if anyone around here has experience this condition? I am > > pregnant with my third child now and this is my third time with PSD -- [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > Anne Chiropractic treatment can be helpful as SPD can be caused by misalignments in the pelvis, I rarely had any misalignment and even then it was only slight, but I found that it helped relieve lesser discomforts in other places, which then made the SPD much more bearable. Massage can also be really good, muscles around the whole area can tighten up in an attempt to hold things together, but then add up to make more pain, so you'd need to find a practitioner that was happy to go places like the inner thighs. I have occasionally heard people say that after a short period of time walking isn't so bad, as if everything tightens up horribly when you are resting, then takes some time to loosen up, but I don't think this is a common experience with SPD, other parts of my body might feel better after some movement, but the SPD just seemed to get worse. Unfortunately support belts never worked for me, though I found that a belly bra, which kind of supports the bump from above was very helpful. Cheers Anne > Chiropractic treatment can be helpful as SPD can be caused by > misalignments in the pelvis, I rarely had any misalignment and even then > it was only slight, but I found that it helped relieve lesser > discomforts in other places, which then made the SPD much more bearable. I 2nd that. I had SPD last time and have it again this time. Difference this time is that it came earlier, around 22 weeks, and I have been going to a chiropractor and a masseuse every 2 weeks. The combination of therapies has helped a lot particularly the chiropractor. I haven't found the harness/support any good either. Thanks for all the advice/suggestions. It does seem to get worse with each pregnancy, it has for me! I am 16+ weeks now and it is pretty bad - this is much earlier than the other times. I'm just hoping that it doesn't go beyond SPD... I am already planning my days for thirty minutes of up time and thirty of down, which is particularly difficult with two young children. Hence the reason I am looking for other people with experience with this. I would never have thought about massage therapy or chiropractic care. I'll ask my doctor for a referral at my next appointment. I found the support belt helpful with my second pregnancy at the end, but it was uncomfortable to wear... something like, I don't know, tummy control underwear would feel, lol. After my first pregnancy it took me about two weeks to get back to "normal" and a little longer than that after my second. I doubt that I'll be having any more children after this as I can't see myself putting up with this again! Mind you, we were doubtful on a fourth anyway, SPD is just a further push in the no direction. -Jen I had SPD, but luckily not too badly. It showed up very slightly towards the end of my 2nd pregnancy, and I was sore for a week or two after delivery. For my 3rd pregnancy though it was worse. It affected my day to day life as I couldn't walk or be as active as I would like, but it didn't really stop be doing things. Again though, a week or two after delivery it went away. I know that in the overall scheme of things mine was fairly mild, but I know how painful it can be, and my sympathies to you. It was so frustrating not being able to do what I wanted. I had to plan my day around 30 mins on my feet, then 30 mins sitting down! It was also a factor in not having any more kids, as I don't want to go through the pregnancy again (esp. as it is likely to get worse). I hope you find ways to manage with it, and that it clears up quickly for you after birth. Suzanne > Just curious if anyone around here has experience this condition? I am > pregnant with my third child now and this is my third time with PSD -- [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > -Jen > Just curious if anyone around here has experience this condition? I am > pregnant with my third child now and this is my third time with PSD -- [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > -Jen Hello Jen. I have had SPD since I was 16 weeks pregnant with my son, who is now 4 years old. There is one support group out there, The Pelvic Partnership, which is in the UK. They have lots of helpful information on their website: www.pelvicpartnership.org.uk. Their materials have good descriptions of both the symptoms and the cause, and if may be helpful to take some of the materials directly to your doctor(s) -- you may get better treatment once they see that this is a well-documented condition in the UK. Physical therapy and spinal manipulation are what works for me. I see doctors at the University of Michigan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department. The phone number for the office is 734-936-7175; you might be able to get a reference for a physician in your area. A support belt may be helpful....here are a few that may help: - www.babyhugger.com/ - www.serola.net/ (click on the sacroiliac belt; I still wear this daily, but I have heard that the Babyhugger may be more comfortable during pregnancy.) - http://www.reliefmart.com/pelvic-pain.html Hope this helps. Laura I still see what I call my "spinal guy," wo Jen, I just had another thought, could you do Pilates? I don't think it will be a miracle cure whilst pregnant, but because it's non weight bearing and there are lots of exercises that can be done without opening the legs at all - at least there is on the equipment called the reformer, doing it on the mat doesn't have quite the scope as the equipment does. I think it's important to try and minimise muscular deterioration during pregnancy and the emphasis on position in pilates can help with alignment if this is a problem. Cheers Anne Thanks for the website Laura, I will be taking a close look at it. It would be great to find some new ideas and what not. That is a good suggestion Anne, I will take a look around for a beginner pilates class. I have never tried it before, but I am up to anything that will help alleviate the pain/discomfort that comes in tow with SPD. Hopfully my back will cooperate with me, I am finding that I get an extreme amount of pain in my lower left back with certain movements... I can't even lift my left leg in the shower anymore to shave... luckily I can still bend over enough to get the job done, though the same pain is creeping in with that position as well. Hmm, almost time to trust hubby with the razor again, lol. -Jen > That is a good suggestion Anne, I will take a look around for a > beginner pilates class. I have never tried it before, but I am up to [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > job done, though the same pain is creeping in with that position as > well. Hmm, almost time to trust hubby with the razor again, lol. Hmm, if you've got asymmetric pain in the back I'd think there would be a high chance you've got a pelvic misalignment, and the movement of the sacroiliac joints has become uneven. The things you can do yourself to realign this tend to involve significant asymmetric leg movement, so I'd recommend a chiropracter or physical therapist that is happy performing some level of manipulation/mobilisation, the good thing is pilates exercises can help with keeping this aligned or realigning more minor misalignments. Cheers Anne Interesting... well I'll mention this to my doctor at the next visit and ask for a referral (at least that way my insurance will cover it). I would never have thought of it as anything more than normal SPD discomfort. Thanks for the info. -Jen > > That is a good suggestion Anne, I will take a look around for a > > beginner pilates class. I have never tried it before, but I am up to [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Cheers > Anne |
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