Li'l Bit Baby Boutique

I’ve Got You Babe

By Kyla Henderson

For April 15, 2010

Maybe you’ll be one of those lucky women with no complaints at all during pregnancy. Or maybe you’ll be like most of us who at least have minor complaints about aches and pains.

In pregnancy, the aches and pains that are most common are pain in the low back and hip and are a result of a multitude of different problems. I was not one of those women who had no complaints during pregnancy. The better half can attest to that. What bothered me most was my, what I call “haunches” area, where it stretched from the top of my buttocks and then down, then around to the top on my hip in front. In fact, that area still bothers me quite a bit, but this problem I have been informed is to the extra weight carried during pregnancy and the weight I still carry after. (Of course, I can hardly blame it on having a baby anymore – but that’s an entirely different column!)

Low back and hip pain is a common pregnancy complaint that Sharon Shepherd a physiotherapist and owner of West-Fit Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Clinic sees. Shepherd said these two complaints can be the result of many different diagnoses, and all can be aided by physiotherapy during and after pregnancy.

The more common and more serious problems that can result from weight gain, hormonal changes, muscle stretching and ligament loosening including Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction, Symphisis Pubis Dysfunction, true hip joint dysfunction, Lumbar Spine dysfunction, Diastases Recti, as well as muscle pain in various parts of the body.

Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction is a result of pregnancy hormones loosening ligaments too much and thus can result in muscles trying to hold the pelvis together, as opposed to the ligaments that are supposed to. The most common symptom is mild to moderate low back pain.

 “Hormonal changes cause the ligaments to loosen and that effects some women more than others. Some women can end up with a pelvis that is very unstable and hence their sacroiliac joints aren’t holding their pelvis together as well as it should,” Shepherd. “They can end up with a lot of aching and on the severe side where the sacroiliac joint is in an in aligned position that requires mobilizing. The mobilizing must be done very carefully because of the baby and because you already have something that is moving too much.”

After diagnosis, a physiotherapist would suggest a treatment, which might include exercises, electrical stimulation or a pelvic stabilization belt.

Shepherd said Symphisis Pubis can be another bothersome pregnancy complaint for a woman that continues post-partum. The Symphisis Pubis, also being affected by loosing ligaments, can become unstable, resulting in grain pain and soreness and making it difficult to walk.

“The lady who has a really loose pelvis has a really nice delivery because everything is open wide. But that’s also why they struggle at the end of the pregnancy because the hormones have loosened you up so much that your pelvis is having a hard time staying together – muscles are getting stretched,” Shepherd said.

If a woman is diagnosed with Diastases Recti, which is the separation of the abdominal muscles into left and right halves, a physiotherapist can help teach the woman how to prevent the muscles from separating further.

If you are experiencing any pain and soreness during your pregnancy, why not see what a physiotherapist can do for you! kyla@lilbitbaby.ca