Hey there, yeah I have SPD, and sacroiliac pain (basically all the joints in the pelvis). It's agony at times, and chronic pain at best! I've had this from about 12 weeks and its gradually getting worse. At about 15 weeks I mentioned it to my midwife who referred me to physio. They confirmed my right side was worse however I think the left side is catching up now. He also confirmed that there was no nerve pain involved as sciatica can be quite common too. So he gave me a support belt to wear when I'm moving about, unfortunately it is quite difficult to wear though cause you're not supposed to sit down with it on. I'm going to ask about the tubigrip though, cause you can have that on sitting too. When I do wear the belt it is like a corset and provides that external stability, I sure feel it when it comes off too! The physio said that some people do start to get relief during the mid twenty weeks as the baby starts to provide that internal 'core' stability.
The physio gave me a very long list of things to avoid! and basically anything that involves spreading your legs or putting too much pressure through the pelvis. So here's some of the no goes...........walking long distances, getting in/out car as normally would (need to keep knees together), my gym routine (pretty much all of it), bending too much, squatting, stairclimbing and swimming (the weightlessness causes you to overstretch and cause more damage).
For pain relief I am taking regular paracetamol and trying to not sit or stand for too long. I asked about tens machines but there was a concern about inducing pre-term labour with where the pads would have to be placed and also he said the pain would be my limiting factor and actually the factor that would stop me overstretching. He did recommend sitting on a agym ball for 30 minutes every day. No bouncing or exercises, just sitting and it helps to tone the core muscles.
That jurassic park t-rex walk is apparently the obvious sign of SPD, small steps and limited range of movement. Has your wife found anything that's actually helped yet? Apparently crutches may be an option, my cousin ended up in hospital for the last three months with her second down to it as it can rarely be linked with pre-term labour. How far along is the pregnancy? I'm thinking that I may have to be signed off in the near future, not that I want to but really want to limit the pain!
So sorry for the long reply!!!!
