Does anyone have SPD? It Hurts!!!!

Hi Guys,

I went to the midwife the other day for a check up and was told that due to my symptoms I have SPD Symphisis Pubic Dysfunction, Which is basically a real sore pubic bone and pain in the hoo haa and upper legs.:cry: Ive had it for a while and its getting worse, I was kinda hoping anyone else might have this too as its real painful and it hurts to walk now. My mum reckons i should go back to my midwive as it wasnt this sore last week.

I also have pain while DTD, inside my Hoo haa and now my DP feels bad poor guy.

Anything to help this pain would be gladly appreciated. :pray:

Hi Frankie,

I too have SPD, what a pain! (literally!!)

I've had it since about 16weeks (now 30weeks), and unfortunatetly it only gets worse. I have days where I can't even get out of bed without excrutiating pain, and as for DTD, just not happening.......poor DH

There is some hope though, if you can find a physio that knows about spd, they can give you some excercises that can strengthen the area around the problem to decrease the discomfort. Also talk to your midwife, she can let you know what activities make this worse and how to change the way you do these to avoid any further pain.

The good news is, it does go away soon after birth.

Good luck with it, darl.

Jo

I had SPD with my 2nd pg. Try to keep all of your movements symetrical, ie. swing both legs out of the car at the same time, get help to roll over in bed.

i recommend getting a support belt and icing the joint when it is really sore as this reduces inflamation and allows you to rest the area. when you have iced it try to keep mobile as this keeps the inflammation away longer, ie. ice it just before you go shopping and you will handle doing the shopping way better than just doing it without icing it. my physio recommended hip circles and gentle stretches and pelvic floor exercises ;)

i would recommend getting a referral to a women's health physio as they are used to doing all sorts of exercises in this region, and an osteopath may also be helpful as the are kind of a combination of chiro and physio. I can find an article for you if you like but i think i have covered the majority of what I did. Oh and try not to do any lifting ;)

Please please please go and see a physio who specialises in women's things (I saw one through the public hospital I was attending) - they will give you some tips and tricks on what to avoid and how to do the things you need to do. They might also give you a support belt or tubey thing to wear to keep your pelvis better supported. Don't let it drift as it can get much worse and you don't want to be using a walking frame by the end of your pregnancy!

There's an excellent website called The Pelvic Instability Association with lots of helpful information.

the tube thing is called tubigrip and does help but it needs to cover your entire belly so not so great when u r heavily pg in high temps ;) i found a support belt to be a bit better than the tubigrip.

Definitely get a referral and some serious help hun. it is more likely to happen again if you dont try to get it under control. i will be going back to the physio as soon as i find out i am pg again and i still have some discomfort occasionally.

Hey guys ,
Thanks heaps i really appreciate the help It took a while for anyone to reply and i assumed that no one else had spd! I know this sounds bad as i dont wish this on you guys cos it hurts, but im glad theres someone out there who has it too, It makes it easier for me to cope knowing that you guys are battling with it too.

I had it and still have problems now. I agree with seeing a physio and be really really careful with lifting and the housework. Pilates is great for keeping strong as you need your pelvic floor muscles to support yourself moreso when you have SPD :hug:

Hi Frankie

I know how you feel - I've had this pelvic pain for the past few weeks. I'm 37 weeks now so not long to go now but I have found that cold packs have really helped to reduce the inflammation and the pain, and sometimes Panadeine takes the edge off too. My obs said it is safe to take this in pregnancy. (But then you have to get on the Coloxyl if Codeine makes you constipated!). I really feel for you - I seem to have a lot of pain in bed at night and when trying to roll over. Hubby has had to help me walk to the toilet a few times too. Definitely no DTD in this house right now!

Hang in there and the other girls are right - try to see a good physio. They will give you some tips on managing the symptoms better.

Good luck!:grouphug:

Hi Frankie,

Gotta love the ever-changing pg body! :redface:

As the others have already said, avoid lifting where possible and take it very easy going up and down stairs etc. Yes the tubi-grip band will help but doesn't actually resolve the problem (which is excess pressure on your pubic symphisis and pelvic floor). As the tubi-grip deals with the effects but not the cause, it usually isn't enough on it's own. I really recommend seeing an osteopath or physio, but make sure they deal with alot of pregnant women and will therefore have some experience with SPD.

HTH.

PS: congrats on your pg!

I am pretty sure i am suffering this, but did talk to the OB about it last visit (the pain i was experiencing) and he didn't mention any diagnosis. He had a look 'down there, and felt around in the area of pain, but sorta just said, part of pregnancy.

But as you all know, it is getting more painful to move around in bed, get up and walk every day.

Silly question maybe, but do you need a referal from your DR to see a physio or can you just ring for an appointment? Not seeing him again till next week.

Depends, If you want to see a public physio then u need a referral. private you dont as far as i know

Nope, no referral required to see a private physio or osteopath :)

Taurusa, I saw a physio through the public hospital where I was booked into have my baby. They didn't need a referral, I just rang up and explained my symptoms and they booked me in. Try ringing the physio department at your hospital, they will tell you whether the referral is needed or not.

If you need a referral, see your GP asap, you might need to be firm with them and insist they write the referral, because a lot of doctors are not really aware of the extent of the problem or the degree of pain that can be suffered when it's not managed.

Have an appointment booked for friday morning with a pregnancy specialists physio. So thanks all for the advice and will post on friday to let you know how it went.

BTW - no referal needed they said and take private health care card and just pay the gap, so will let you know of the costs too for any other interested persons

Taurusa, glad you have teed that up, I hope you get some relief from your visit and get lots of useful information too.

ask lots of questions and write the exercises down so you remember them ;)

I have it!!!!

Best releif ever was going to see my chiro!!! he helped with some low impact adjustments to my hips and now I am very much pain reduced! Still pains there but nowhere near how they were before. I got my symptoms from 16/17 weeks :(

Had my appointment this morning.. the physio gave me a support belt to wear to push the pelvis back together and feels heaps better already. The belt itself is a little uncomfortable but i am going to have to get used to it. Also she said i have to do the good old pelvic floor exercises at lest 100 times a day!!!!!! that should give some muscles to help hold up everything up. If gets no better, or if gets worse have to go back.

Glad it is helping already! you will have nice strong PFM's by the end of this pg if you are always doing them so get clenching :p i use BB as a reminder to do them ;)

give yourself a break from the belt regularly to allow you to be comfortable, but use it whenever you need it and then some, only take it of if you are really uncofortable and overnight.

hi guys,

just thought id let everybody know that im going to the physio next wednesday, my midwive booked me in. Thanks for the advice i hope it will ease the pain

Hi Guys

I had pelvic instability during my first pregnancy. And despite numerous people telling me to see a physio, I just put the aches and pains down to 'normal pregnancy pain'. In fact it was not. During my labour the pain was excruciating. And now, 16 months after birth i am still experiencing quite severe pelvic instability and have been seeing phsyios ever since.

My advice is see someone straight away! And not just any physio, make sure it is someone who specialises in pelvises. I wasted months with a physio who didn't do much to help me at all but have recently found one who is fantastic. I then had to have cortisone injections to try and stop the pain - which were horrifically painful and did nothing to ease the pain!

I have been told that the pain will probably be the same, if not worse during my second pregnancy so it is so important to keep the exercises going after birth to strengthen all the muscles around the joints. I don't know all the names of the muscles, but you need to exercise your pelvic floor, gluts, deep abdominals and there are two little muscles around your sacral joints that need strengthening too.

It may be interesting to note, that my pelvic instability was especially bad after the birth, until I stopped breast feeding when my son was 9 months old. The pain reduced significantly at this time, though it still gets pretty bad around my AF each month.

Hope you feel better soon!
Sasharry

I have experienced considerable pain and discomfort from SPD. For me it started around 30 weeks or so and just got progressively and steadily worse. At its worst, I seriously could not walk. I was sure I would end up in a wheelchair by the end!

But, I got some great help from my chiro. The first time he adjusted my pelvis and that helped a bit, but not heaps. Then the second time he did something where he untwisted a ligament at the back of my pelvis. It was super gentle- so much so that I was like "yeah right, as if this is going to help!". But it did! I still get the pain, but it is not debilitating now and quite bearable.

I still need to sit down on the bed to put on my pants and socks, and try to move my legs together. Rolling over in bed feels the worst.

One thing, when I did realise what was going on, I did quite a bit of SPD research and I found that you do need to be careful about the positions you birth in when you have SPD. Because the area is already stretched, it can be easier to cause permanent damage. Apparently, you need to make sure you dont spread your legs too wide (like, avoid stirrups), and try different positions like on all fours or on your side.

Good luck to all fellow SPD sufferers!!