Symphysis 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

Jen wrote:
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

On Jul 2, 10:16 pm, Anne Rogers wrote:
Jen wrote:
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

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

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



"Jen" wrote in message
ups.com...
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

Anne Rogers wrote:
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

On Jul 2, 7:46 pm, Jen wrote:
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

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