Relieve Pelvic Pain Naturally with Pregnancy Chiropractic Care
According to a review on pelvic girdle pain published in the Journal of Orthopedic Research, around 20 percent of pregnant women experience some degree of pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. While many women assume this discomfort is simply part of pregnancy, prenatal chiropractic care may offer another option by addressing the underlying mechanical causes rather than waiting for symptoms to improve after delivery.
Key Takeaways:
● There are mechanical factors, such as hormonal ligament laxity and weight redistribution, which lead to pelvic pain during pregnancy and which are amenable to gentle interventions.
● There are two distinct pelvic pain patterns during pregnancy, either in the anterior pubic approach or the back sacroiliac joints, and each of them responds to different specific techniques.
● It is a combination of in-office and daily movement practices, rather than an either-or approach, when it comes to sustainably lowering what really drives relief.
Pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy, however, is the kind of reality that unexpectedly but absolutely ruins ordinary moments. A pregnant woman stoops to strap on her shoes and gets a quick stab deep in her pelvis. At night, she turns over and finds that she can't without hurting. Now it requires analysis rather than automatic behavior to walk from her vehicle into the office building.
As pelvic pain is to be expected in pregnancy, at least in some measure, many women push through. Trained prenatal practitioners offer a differing point of view as they practice pregnancy chiropractic care, the pain has mechanical causes that focused treatment can frequently resolve, versus having patients wait until delivery to receive relief.
The following sections detail what causes pelvic pain in pregnancy, how the two primary pain patterns differ from one another, which chiropractic modalities have direct benefit, and specific habit modifications that support treatment outcomes between visits.
Causes of Pelvic Pain During Pregnancy
Most of the pelvic pain during pregnancy is related to two physiological changes. Relaxin is the hormone that relaxes ligaments all over your body to help get ready for delivery, and the expanding baby forces bone weight forward across the pelvis. All of this together can destabilize the pelvic joints that usually maintain the pelvis in a stable position.
Here are some of the common mechanical causes of pregnancy-related pelvic pain:
● Increased relaxin hormone level in the blood, which helps make ligament laxity
● A forward weight shift unloads more on the lower back and pelvic joints
● Changes in gait that are experienced due to changes in stability
● Uneven pelvic structures are a result of asymmetric uterine position
● Pregnancy-related dysfunction of pre-existing pelvic issues
These factors combine, and the pelvic bones start moving in ways they never did before pregnancy. This leaves the joints in asymmetrical positions and causes inflammation to form at the sites of greatest stress. This mechanistic model also illustrates why pregnancy-related pelvic pain is rarely resolved by rest alone and how specific treatments for the joint dysfunction in and around the pelvis are preferred for this condition over simply managing symptoms.
Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) Explained
The pubic symphysis connects the two sides of the pelvis in front. In normal conditions, this joint does not move much at all. Ligament laxity during pregnancy causes the joint to move beyond its anatomical limits, and inflammation most commonly occurs in the joint capsule.
During pregnancy, common presentations of SPD are:
● Shooting pain in the pubic bone on weight-bearing activity
● Worse pain when getting out of a car or bed
● Feelings of clicking when walking or changing positions
● Pain that is transmitted to the inner thighs or lower abdomen
● Less tolerance for standing on one leg
The path through which chiropractic treatment for SPD works is not directly through the painful joint. The sacroiliac joints behind it influence the pubic symphysis at the front of the pelvis. With proper Webster Technique protocols, prenatal chiropractors typically relieve tension on the irritated pubic joint without ever needing to apply direct pressure directly where it hurts by restoring alignment to your sacrum and pelvic structures around the painful region.
Balancing the Sacroiliac (SI) Joints
SPD targets the front of the pelvis, while dysfunction in the sacroiliac joint impacts the back. The SI or sacroiliac joints, which connect the sacrum to the iliac bones bilaterally, serve as support beams when the body's weight is redistributed during pregnancy.
The most common presentations of SI joint dysfunction during pregnancy are:
● Localized sharp pain in the lower back around the dimples
● Worsening pain with single-leg activity such as stepping up stairs
● Pain that travels to the buttock or back of the thigh
● Difficulty standing on one leg without pain
● Pain that shifts from one side to the other
When the SI joints are restored to balance, the painful side must be treated alongside the other to achieve a successful outcome. Pelvic asymmetry tends to compensate in one direction or the other. So treating both joints often provides more rapid and lasting relief than treating just the symptomatic side. Specific protocols of the Webster Technique address this bilateral pelvic balance work.
Release of the Round Ligament and Soft Tissue
Chiropractic adjustments may partially address joint dysfunction, but the soft tissues around pelvic joints also need regional attention. As pregnancy progresses, the round ligaments that attach the uterus to the groin tighten and may cause sharp pulling pain with rapid movement. Pelvic discomfort is often associated with excess tension in surrounding muscles such as the psoas and pelvic floor.
Some of the soft tissue techniques utilized in quality prenatal chiropractic care are:
● Light trigger point work on the hip flexor and pelvic floor musculature
● Techniques to relieve groin tightness from the round ligament
● Deep hip flexor tightness paired with gentle psoas work
● Diaphragmatic release refining general trunk movement quality
● Fascial work supporting pelvic and abdominal coordination
Comprehensive treatment incorporates both methodologies through soft-tissue procedures and joint adjustments, rather than relying on either methodology alone. Pregnant women do tend to benefit when both the direction of structural alignment and the tone in the tissues surrounding held patterns are addressed together. Prenatal-trained practitioners know how to implement this combination work safely throughout all three trimesters.
Pelvic Protection
It is not only what happens while I am at the chiropractor, but also what happens between visits. And how a pregnant woman presents herself during her normal day-to-day activities determines whether specific daily habits continue or are undone by treatment. When carried out properly, they can elevate your abilities beyond what is typically possible and maintain progress through common flare-ups.
These are protective movement strategies that will complement your chiropractic care:
● Knees squeezed in while getting out of a car, rolling over in bed
● Long hours sitting on a folded towel or wedge cushion to lift and angle the pelvis
● Using a pillow between the knees overnight
● Wearing a maternity support belt while walking or grocery shopping
● Not doing asymmetric loading (such as carrying bags on one side)
Though they may expect patients to naturally work this out on their own, quality prenatal chiropractors explicitly teach these protective patterns throughout regular appointments. Usually, efficacy results are produced by a combination of in-office work and daily habit modifications, but no single intervention produces all the effects. For the months of pregnancy after that, the accumulated effects of better movement patterns tend to be more important than each adjustment alone.
Safely Address Pelvic Pain Today
Properly trained practitioners can provide specific gentle interventions, as pelvic girdle pain and SPD have identifiable mechanical causes. The causes, SPD patterns, sacroiliac balance, soft-tissue work, and at-home modifications converge into a comprehensive approach that quality prenatal chiropractors provide throughout all three trimesters of pregnancy.
Expectant mothers in Costa Mesa and Orange County experiencing pelvic discomfort during pregnancy can contact Blooming Chiropractic at the Mesa Verde Drive location, where care is provided by Webster Technique-certified practitioners trained through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.