# Pelvic pain continuing 3 months post partum?



## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

I have an oppointment to talk to an OB about this, but I thought I'd throw it out here and see if anyone has any suggestions in the mean time (doc appointment isn't for a few weeks).

About half way through my pregnancy, I started getting a lot of pelvic pain. I understand that this is pretty common, and it happened in my previous pregnancy as well. By pelvic pain, I mean pain in the pelvic muscles - generally following exertion like running, squatting, lifting, etc. After my second pregnancy, the pain went away quickly - pretty much immediately upon delivery. This time, however, I'm 3 months post partum and still experiencing pain. It's not as bad as it was in my third trimester, but it's still there when I exert myself - or not even exertion, really. Sometimes just normal stuff like picking up my 2 yo or kicking a toy out of the way on the floor can cause pain.

Any ideas about what is going on or how to fix it? Anyone else had this problem? I just joined a gym, but I'm afraid to do more than the recumbant bike because I don't know what excercises might make it worse as opposed to better. My instinct says that it's at least in part due to low muscle tone (I'm significantly overweight and not in great shape), and that excercising will eventually help the problem, but I don't want to make it worse and sideline myself.


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## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

anyone?


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## tinyshoes (Mar 6, 2002)

For totally different reasons, I got a referral to a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floor muscles. My certified-nurse midwife gave me the referral, and I went.

If you mess up your shoulder, you see a physical therapist. If you bust your knee, after knee surgery, you see a physical therapist. Maybe for you, after carrying and birthing three babies, you might need an expert in the musculature of your pelvic area to help you identify causes and treatments.

If I were you, I'd ask my OB to sign the paper to make insurance pay for a consult with a physical therapist. (Though I understand that my post doesn't really help ya in the meantime--good luck!)


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## zoe398 (Jul 8, 2005)

Maybe consider chiropractic? It may not be your pelvic floor muscles at all, but a reflection of the imbalance in your body. Don't know, just thinking out loud....


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## tinyshoes (Mar 6, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zoe398*
Maybe consider chiropractic? It may not be your pelvic floor muscles at all, but a reflection of the imbalance in your body. Don't know, just thinking out loud....

Good point--and after a few visits with my physical therapist who specialized in pelvic floors, it was determined that I had muscle imbalances all the heck over, so I continued my care with her collegue, a physical therapsit specializing in general body mechanics.


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## PerennialMom (May 22, 2004)

Is it pelvic floor muscle pain? Or pelvic bone pain? I had pelvic bone pain up to about 6 months after the birth of my second. It was usually bad during longer runs. I felt the pain in my last trimester and closer to birth. I pushed for 3 1/2 hours, so I just assumed that combination was it. Lots of pressure on the pelvic bone is what did it to me. Like you, it would flare up during any sort of exertion.

I used Arnica to alleviate the pain and that worked really well!


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## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

well, i've been doing a lot of research, and it sounds like it's fairly common - and that most people seem to have the best results with chiropractic care. I've never been to a chiro before - I need to check to see if my insurance covers it (I know my old one did!) if not, i'll see if i can get PT first. thanks ladies!


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