
SI Joint Pain Prevention and Care
One of the most common complaints I hear from pregnant women is the good old pain in the butt or pain in the pubic bone area in the front groin region. It can be absolutely excruciating and quite literally bring you to your knees. Women are often told “this is just a normal part of pregnancy” and to “learn to bear with the pain.” Adding to the confusion is that often times women think that what they have is sciatica when what they are actually experiencing is a Sacroiliac Joint issue. For symphysis pubis dysfunction, pain in the groin area, we have many women come to us having been told to stretch their groin more when in fact that can make the issue worse!
Both sacroiliac joint pain and symphysis pubis are pelvis stability related pains that many women get during pregnancy as the body changes to both accommodate the growing baby and in preparation for childbirth. We will discuss the two in this article but it is important to know, right off the bat, that you do not need to live with sacroiliac joint pain nor symphysis pubis dysfunction and there are a lot of tried and true things you can be doing right now to feel better.
Where are the Sacroiliac Joint and the Symphysis Pubis?
This illustration will help you see where the two are located in the body.
What are the symptoms for Sacroiliac Joint pain and for Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction?
Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction causes excessive movement of the pubic symphysis possibly because of a misalignment of the pelvis. The pain is felt in the groin in the front. Burning, sharp, aching pain for many movements that require the legs to move or move away from each other like getting in and out of a car.
Sacroiliac joint pain: This is usually characterized by aching, pulling sensation in the butt region. The kind of pain that makes you want to hit your butt with your fist to relieve the pain. It can be worse with a lot of sitting and getting from sitting to standing can be excruciating as well as getting dressed. It might also feel like deep hip stretching can provide a lot of relief when in fact deep hip stretching might feel good in the moment but can cause the SIJ to become more unstable.
Tips for healing Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction:
Here is a video with 6 Tips for Healing Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction we like to use in One Strong Mama:
SI Joint Pain Prevention moves which are also good for SPD
We created a video of some of our favorite moves for healing Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction / Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction. It is easy to follow and all you need is a yoga mat and 10 minutes.
SI Joint Pain Prevention and Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction during pregnancy
While both of these issues are common pregnancy pains, be assured that with a few tweaks to soe daily movement habits and a few exercises, things can get better. You can become more comfortable and even eliminate the pain all together. One of the major things we want to stress is not to stretch it! Do not treat your aches and pains by stretching them because that can sometimes really destabilize the region. Watch the videos, move a bit differently, do the exercises, and you will be well on your way.
You can follow the tips we give in the videos for SI Joint Pain Prevention or pain reduction. The good thing about it is that SPD shares similar healing path so you kill two birds with one stone.
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions.