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.
The symptoms are:
- Hip pain and swollen hip joints
- Difficulty standing or sitting down
- Stooped or hunched back while standing
- Restricted hip movement resulting in shuffling or waddling while walking
- Clicking in the hip joints (this is audible sometimes)
- Severe pain while climbing stairs
- Pain during sexual intercourse
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
- Loosening of upper back and hamstring muscles leading to postural changes
- Poor muscle function even before pregnancy
- Changes in the centre of gravity
Previous pelvic trauma
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