Pelvic Girdle Pain
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Pelvic Girdle Pain
20% of pregnant women experience pelvic girdle pain from late pregnancy onwards. The pain affects the front of their pelvis, lower back, inner thigh, abdomen, buttocks, and vagina. 5-8% of women suffer from severe pain and it affects their mobility.
Symptoms
- Hip pain and swollen hip joints.
- Stooped or hunched back while standing.
- Restricted hip movement resulting in shuffling or waddling while walking.
- Pain during sexual intercourse.
- Difficulty standing or sitting down.
- Severe pain while climbing stairs.
- Clicking in the hip joints (this is audible sometimes).
Causes
The causes for pelvic girdle pain are unclear but it usually involves a history of lower back pain or having experienced pelvic girdle pain in a previous pregnancy. Other factors are:
- The increasing weight of the baby.
- An increase in the hormone ‘relaxin’ that result in unstable hip joints.
- Poor muscle function even before pregnancy.
- Changes in the centre of gravity.
- Loosening of upper back and hamstring muscles leading to postural changes.
- Previous pelvic trauma
