Hip Pain during Pregnancy

This survey about hip pain during pregnancy was included on this page on November 16th 2001 -
please take the time to answer the question! Thank you!

This page is dedicated especially to the topic of hip pain during pregnancy. During both my pregnancies I experienced great pain in my hips - due to the fact that I was pregnant only! Doctors don't seem to know much about these problems, and I therefore hope that this page might be able to help you !

I have received lots of e-mails from women around the world on this topic. One of the very strange - but interesting things - is that most of these women are from Scandinavia or have ancestors that have come from Scandinavia!

Here is Norway this is actually a BIG problem during pregnancy, and there is an organisation for women with hip pain during pregnancy. Some women actually have to sit in a wheelchair during their late pregnancy, and some are stuck in a wheelchair AFTER their pregnancy as well (some for many years!) - so if you doctor tells you that you complain to much; you should not listen too closely - because so many doctors seem to be ignorant of this problem. Here in Norway awareness is growing among doctors and nurses. In the USA, there seems to be little knowledge about the suffering that many women experience during pregnancy due to hip pain.

The main issue is to look after yourself, and take this very seriously. Be very careful with what you do. Exercise can very often make things much worse. Be careful doing housework, and be careful walking in stairs. When you walk - take small steps. During my second pregnancy I had to use crutches some weeks to get around in my house, and at night I could hardly get out of bed when going to the toilet. It hurt so very much! I tried going for walks outside, but after about 50 meters my only thought was "how on earth am I going to get back home again.......".

Be careful, and let your husband, family or friends do the heavy work and housework around the house! Please listen - or else you might have problems for the rest of your life!

Still - today - I have a lot of pain; in my right hip - especially if I lie down on a hard flat floor, hard matrass or similar. I can hardly get up again. At night I usually put a pillow under me knee or between me legs - it gives good support and helps relieve the pain.

I have received contributions from women having problems with their hips during pregnancy:

March 2005

I have been searching for answers for my moderate to severe at times pelvic/hip pain . I am currently 31 weeks pregnant with my 3rd and last child. I am 30 yrs old healthy and have a 14 month old daughter and a 7 year old son. With my 1st pregnancy I felt nothing like this. But the second pregnancy only AFTER I gave birth the next morning was when I felt severe pain. My symptoms were turning in bed was excruciating and lifting a leg to put on underwear or a sock or sweats was a huge challenge. Walking in general to the bathroom was painful I was forced to take tiny steps. Sitting down and standing up felt terrible to me. I complained to Doctors and the nurses and they all must have thought it was in my head or something but I was truely sincere on the pain I felt and there was absolutly nothing I could do for it. The pelvic hip pain lasted for about 10 weeks after I gave birth to my 2nd baby.

Now pregnant with the 3rd... symptoms returned only now its here before I give birth and I am truely frightened on what it will be like for me afterwards. I thought my pelvic bone was fractured.. If I walk i have to walk with my knees touching together especially when carrying my 14 month old to bed when she falls asleep. Pain has become so severe I have colapsed before. In order to get out of bed I literally have to roll out of bed and onto the floor just to be able to get up to a standing position!! I will bring this up again to my OBGYN, but he may just laugh at me and just brush it off as a pregnancy symptom of discomfort. I sometimes hear a loud popping noise when trying to change position in bed and feel the pop as if you were poping a joint out of place but in your hip. A website I was just on called it SYMPHYSEAL SEPEATION or SEPERATED SYMPHYSIS or PELVIC ARTHROPATHY AND DIASTASIS SYMPHYSIS (diastasis means gap or seperation). Another weird feeling is when sitting down it feels like your pelvic bone or hips actually spread and when you stand up it feels like you have to wait for your pelvis to close back to the normal position or come back together before you can take that first step to walk. I need to print this artical out so I can show it to my OBGYN and hopefully he will become more aware that its not in our heads when we hurt from this pain. Good luck to all!!!

If you have suggestions to help ease the pain let me know ASAP PLEASE!! Thank you! If you would like to e-mail me I can be reached at pookettbear@sbcglobal.net.

June 2004

I'm 23years old and 19 almost 20 weeks pregnant and I'm experiencing some server hip and back pain. This is my 2nd child and I Have NEVER been through this much pain not even when I gave birth to my beautiful 7lb.15oz 20in. long daughter. I have never had hip and back pain in my pregnancy with her so this is all new for me I've had this pain for about 3 weeks and nothing I do seems to help,my husband try's to give me back rubs but It seems to make matters worse so every time he brakes out the lotion I run.(LOL) So I decided to look to the web for help and found this site I have found some helpful tips and support thank you and I'm glad to know I'm not alone.

Debra P.

June 2004

I just wanted to let you know that I finally found relief from my hip pain. I am currently 24 weeks pregnant and for the past 2 months I have had excruciating hip pain to a point where it hurt to get up out of bed and not to mention moving around in bed to different positions. It hurt to sit in lots of positions and was very painful to sit and bring my foot to me so that I could put on socks and shoes. I found it most painful when I needed to get up from the toilet and sometimes would cry just trying to get up.

Although it really didn't hurt when I walked, it could take about 10 minutes to get up off of the floor from a sitting position. The pains that I had was a shooting pain on my right hip but never on my thigh and then just dull pain on both of my hips. Just 2 days ago I bought a product called Soothanol X2 which is an oil made of 12 different natural products to provide immediate relief and there are no side effects. You only use about 3 drops and rub it on the area in pain and in about 10 minutes it starts to burn and you feel it helping but it took about 5 hours till I noticed relief and then my pain was about 80% better. I am taking it twice a day. You can order it at northstarvitamins.com and one bottle with shipping only cost around $35. It is the best product to get rid of hip pain. Please pass this along to your members and anyone else that needs it. It can also be used on any muscle or bone pains especially the back and the knees. I normally would never recommend a product but I feel so much better. I have gone from crying to joy. Hope this helps. Anyone who does try this it comes with a 60 day return policy so you can get your money back if it doesn't work. Also, please email me at seat_s@yahoo.com for anyone who tries it so I will know if it helps you or not.

Sincerely,
Sherry

July 2004

I just found your website when I was surfing the net looking for help for hip pain. I don't know if you are still there buy I thought I would write anyway.

I am 51 years old and English. I had 3 children, the first 2 when I was 23 and 25 gave me no problems. The third at age 32 was different. I thought it was just because i was older but reading your messages from all your ladies makes me think no, that happened to me too! I had trouble walking and moving in general and the dr wasn't interested.

I was fine after I had the baby, but for the past 5 years or so I have been having problems with my right hip. Exercise seems to make it worse not better. I tried yoga, swimming, walking, but it actually gives me less trouble if I don't exercise at all. Sleeping on a hard mattress makes it worse too. I have not had the menopause yet, but hopefully it will get better when I do.

I was beginning to think I was a candidate for a hip replacement one day, but maybe there is hope and when my hormones give up I will be ok.

Thanks for listening,
Elaine

July 2004

Hi,

I found your site by accident and it was a revelation!

I am not Scandinavian (British Caucasian) but at around 8 - 12 weeks pregnant I started to feel my hips were 'baggy' and painful. Working in an offce meant sitting for long periods and on standing I would be bent at the hips until I could straighten up. A week or so later and I had to take small slow steps to walk. This meant I no longer had time to go out of the office at lunchtime - I walked too slowly to get back in time! Later on at home something snapped and I was stuck on one leg, in intense pain from my left hip and unable to move - I had to call my husband home from work to help me!

Once the baby was born, I found that if I was on the floor with him I often couldn't get up at all. Even when I managed it it took a great deal of effort and determination to haul myself up on the furniture - it took 30 minutes to accomplish sometimes!

My son is now 8 and I have had pain in all my joints, neck, spine - even my fingers ever since. I have to have the pain and inflammation controlled with a daily dose of Vioxx. The doctors and midwives have been unable to offer an explanation or give the condition a name, but I was fine until the preganancy.

Good luck with the site - it was great to find I was not alone!

Liz

July 2004

Hi ~ My name is Deanna, I am 25 years old, and two days short of 34 weeks pregnant. This is my fourth child, although I am USA born and raised, I found it very interesting that Norwegian woman exp this more, as I do have a lot of Norwegian in me. Erickson is a family name. Not sure how much~ but it's there, Lutefisk and all~ yuck.

I am having some unbearable hip pain, but it seems to be worse at night. It's been going on the last few days, maybe four, I am not counting. I am thinking I know the reason for this, and will find out at my next OB appt. My son is a large bb, and he has been breech till I believe just these last couple days. I have the stretching hip pain, and I think that it's due to him moving from breech to the normal head down position. Pillows don't help, and I wake up from the pain every couple hours at night. It's terrible. I hope I know why, and that it goes away soon. I am losing quite a bit of sleep over the pain. Thanks for the site~ and I hope many don't go thru the hip pain, it's terrible. I already am a woman with wide hips, I am 5'9" and no overweight at all. I have already wide hips tho, so this is weird to me.

Thanks again~

Deanna Hamilton

July 2004

I'm 23 years old and 10 weeks pregnant with my second child.

I have SPD. I am at the end of my fourth pregnancy and have suffered from this horrible problem with all four of my pregnancies. However this last child I have found what I feel is as close to a cure as possible for this painful painful SPD. I have been sleeping in a recliner now for about two months I am approaching my last 6 weeks of pregnancy and can honestly say I am about 85% pain free. I no longer suffer from that "POPPING" pain, nor do I wake up in any pain. I can literally get out of my recliner and "RUN" to the restroom, without having to try to adjust my hips and move slowly because of the pain. I am not saying that my Pelvic joints are not weak, they are and I have to be very careful about the things that I do during the day. Where my pain mostly came from was sleeping at night. Now, I don't have that pain "at all".

I hope this suggestion is helpful to someone. I really feel for any woman that has to go through this. I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN SO MUCH PAIN, AND I AM SO EXCITED TO HAVE IT GONE!!!! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IT THIS HAS HELPED ANYONE OUT THERE???

THANKS,
TONIA (CA)

First of all, thank you for maintaining this website. It's nice to know that I'm not alone. I'm 24 weeks along, and having a lot less hip pain that I was a few days ago...read on...

Secondly, for all you pregnant women out there experiencing hip pain, GET THEE TO A GOOD PHYSICAL THERAPIST!!!!!

I had excrutiating hip pain for a couple of weeks before I figured out that it wasn't going away. It was not sciatic pain, because it was located solely in my hips. But it was almost impossible for me to walk. At one point, I was getting around the house by crawling on my hands and knees.

I told my O.B. about this at my next visit, and he referred me to a physical therapy center. I really lucked out...the P.T. assigned to my case had the EXACT same problem with her second pregnancy.

The problem is caused by a hormone released by your body during pregancy that loosens your pelvis for delivery. Unfortunately, this hormone works on all your other joints, including your sacroiliac joint (SI joint). My P.T. said that during the first pregancy the SI joint is loosened a little, and during subsequent pregancies it really lets loose. Another unfortunate thing (according to the P.T.) is that this hormone doesn't completely disappear until about 3 months after you stop breast feeding. Another interesting point she made is that the greatest hormonal changes come at around 12, 24, and 36 weeks. Yep, I'm 24 weeks.

This wonderful woman did 3 things that gave me IMMEDIATE relief (well, 85% relief, anyhow):

1.) She gave me a sacroiliac belt.

2.) She showed me how to use my abs when I walk to support the SI joint.

3.) She rotated my left SI joint back into place, as it had rotated out slightly. This little trick worked wonders!!

She also gave me strengthening/flexibility exercises for the long term.

I'm not kidding, I hobbled into the office barely moving, and although I was slow getting back to the car, I WALKED back to the car. This was Friday morning...instead of sitting on the couch all weekend, I was able to get around enough to go outside with my son and push him in a swing.

Good luck to all you ladies out there! May you find help, as I did.

August 2004

HI - I'm a 31 year-old mother of two young girls, aged 5 and 21 months. I stumbled on this fantastic site while looking up "hip pain" on google. Until seing this site, I had not even made a conneciton between the unrelenting, crippling hip pain I've had for the past two days, and the merciless hip pains I had in both pregnancies. I never even thought to mention my pain to my OBs, asuming it was a normal pain response to the seperation of the hips and the "fanning out" of the pelvic bones to prepare for childbirth.

However, during my second pregnancy, I did have doula, who suggested chiropractic to turn my then-breech at 37 weeks baby girl into a birth-ready head-down position. I will tell all of you ladies - CHIROPRACITC WORKS. Little Angelina, who is now 21 months old, turned right-side down that VERY NIGHT after my first chirporactic adjustment. It was a special type of adjustment, specifically used for breech babies, to encourage them to turn, by creating more space in the pelvis through proper alignment of ...THE HIPS. I felt immediate relief when her near-eight pound body shifted 180' that night! It was, of course, a nauseating experience to have her turn like that, but it was a moment of joy as I realized that she did in fact turn the "right" way. At my OB appointment the following morning, my OB happily proclaimed, "Well, she's already a good little girl, mommy. She turned - no scheduled C-Section for you!"

Interestingly enough, at follow-up chiropractic visits after I delivered, my chiropractor informed me that my hips were tilted and not "level" - creating undue strain on my left hip joint. The adjustments kept my hip "straight", and me pain free, but I sincerely could not afford the treatment any longer at that time. I had no pain from the time Angelina was a newborn until just a few days ago, when it returned. TOday, I can barely walk the dog - go figure!

I am now considering returning to chiropractic treatment, as I think it will help the pain within a few visits. Although, without the relaxin hormone present to assist in the adjustments, I may be a little too optimistic with that time frame. I am very happy to share with you the benefits I received during pregnancy. It's an EXCELLENT time to have your entire spine adjusted by a chiropractor - safe, gentle, and due to the relaxin, very easy. In fact, it's the best time in a woman's life to have her spine and joints aligned properly and restored to health. I went to a chiropractor who specializes in pregnancy, turning breech babies, and newborns/postpartum care. Be sure that the chiropractor you choose during pregnancy is skilled in those particular areas. There are very gentle and different methods that are used for pregnant women, postpartum women, and infants.

Good luck to all of you, and especially to the mommies on here with Hyperemesis. (Severe, abnormal morning sickness.) Make sure you have enough fluids, and don't hesitate to go to the ER if you're not urinating every 3 or so hours, or the urine is dark and concentrated. Dehydration can lead to miscarriage, so go get tanked-up on IV fluids, if necessary. I had a backpack of IV fluids hooked-up to my veins in my first pregnancy, I couldn't keep thing down - not even water! Luckily, I had two OBs who had Hyperemesis themselves and didn't play games at all. They sent me right ot the ER, and then prescribed the home therapy. Dehydration also causes horrific things to happen to your internal organs. I have a bile duct injury as a result, and it is no fun. Kidney stones and gallstones that can damage your anatomy permanently are a real possibility. Don't wait like I did to let your OB know you can't hold anything down! And hang in there!

Christine Barilla

August 2004

I am 14... and 30 weeks pregnant, with TREMENDOUS hip pain. My symptoms are... when i sit too long, I have pain when I get up or try to walk, in bed at night when i turn over I get pains in my hips and when I stand for too long. If I had to rate the pain on a scale from 1-10 i would rate it a definite 10!!! My description of the pain is, sharp pains through my hip area to my groin, and a gnawing ache when I stand. Thats about it... Thanks for listening! I would love to hear from anyone who has any remedies... I am pretty desperate at this point!

~Abbi~

August 2004

I am glad that I am not alone in this hip pain problem. I am from the US and agree that doctors seem to shrug it off like it is nothing. I am 26 and 32 weeks pregnant with my second child. With the first child I had little pain. But with this child I can barely move. Like many of the other women who have written, the night is the worst. Every time I roll over it hurts so bad. Sometimes I can even feel my pelvic bones pop. Exercise just makes it worse. I have gotten to the point that I don't even want to do things around the house for fear that that night I will be in even worse pain then normal. I don't know if there is a solution to the problem. I mean I do see that our hips have to move to make room for the baby, but I whish there was some way of getting some relief. Thank goodness I am almost due. Hopefully all will go back to normal once the baby is born.

Hi my name is Michelle, I`m 18 yrs old . I am a month pregnant and I have excruciating pains in my abdominal area,lower back and my hips.The pains come and go at least 6-10 times during the day and wake me up in the middle of the night. If i am sitting or laying down and i get up too fast the pains would come back.

I am on my 4th pregnancy, I am 23 years old and very athletic. I have a 2 year old, 4 year old, and 6 year old so I have my hands full. I injured my hip before my last pregnancy and during the labor and delivery of my youngest son, my hip dislocated, very painful. I did not have problems with my hips before that day but in this pregnancy (33 weeks) I am hurting, and very badly. Ive told my doctor and midwife but their answer to everything is "you're pregnant" as if I didnt know that. It is very frustrating to have to put off walks, parks, and other activities with my 3 boys because of the pain. It hurts them too, my oldest asked if he carried me if I would be able to take them to the park he said "I won't ask for any help Mommy, promise."

It broke my heart. I really wish I could walk normal and at least bear the pain for a little bit of time but it hurts too much. Sitting has becomw my favorite past time and gaining weight, Im a pro, I just hope this goes away after I have my baby. My other children need me too.

Hi everyone. My name is Angela, a stay at home mom of identical twins girls. I had injury hip pain pelvis pain after the birth of the twins in 2001, and it just got worse and worse. I can´t walk anymore. It is hard to take care of anything. The doctors say there is nothing they can do. Please help me anyone!

Well this is my fifth pregnancy, and I have experienced hip pain the worst this go around. I have had a lot of problems in the past, but the Dr.'s never do anything about it. The last Dr. told me I probably had no coushioning between my hip and leg bone and there was nothing he could do except refer me to a hip specialist after the birth of my baby, then I found out I was pregnant agian, so there was no time to go to the specialist, so I have been dealing with it, trying not to complain to the dr. too much, sometimes I scream out in pain and break down in tears it hurts so bad. At night it's worse because I have to get up and down so much to go to the restroom and some times it takes me minutes to walk 10 steps and I can't hardly even stand up straight because the pain is so awful. Is there anyone who knows a solution to this problem or do I just complain too much? Thank you for listening to my problems.

Hello I am 23 years old and 34 weeks pregnant with my second child. I have severe hip pain and some time feel as though I can not walk. The pain is mainly in my right hip. I sleep with a pillow between my knees but it only seems to help for a little while then the pain returns. Getting up in the morning can be most difficult, having to roll out of bed and then trying to step is horrible. I had minor to mild pain in my hips with my first daughter three years ago, but this time is extremely painful. The doctors can give me no answer. Some time I think they think I am making a big deal out of nothing. I usually have large babies my last one weighed 10 lbs. 12 oz. They tell me this one is also large, I thought maybe that has something to do with it. If anyone else has the same problem or ideas I would love to hear them.

I am 1/2 German and 1/2 Native American Indian(YUROK) from Northern California. I am 6' tall. I have only gained 15 pounds in this entire pregnancy.

I am 22 weeks pregnant. As far as my background I can say I come from a long line of English-Welsh whatever that means mother's side being a long line of Taylor's and on my father's side yet another long line of William's and as much research as I have done I have yet to find any other blood line to relate me to Scandinavian or much else. Even dating as far back as mid-1800 is as far as I've been able to go with this. So I'm convinced that maybe I'm an exception to the Scandinavian rule.

I reside in Texas now & DR's here think I am a baby when I comes to "pains of pregnancy" but a true woman when it comes to the pain in labor. With my first pregnancy I had no problems until the last trimester & after that point I was off of my feet as often as I could be, except my once a week swim-which gave me some relief from my sciatic pain until bedtime then it was nothing but pain all thru the night. My son was born & boom, pain all gone. However for the next year after that I have problems with shoulder dislocation & hip dislocation. My Dr. says that part of the problem (soon after I had my child) was the relaxin after so many months that excuse because ridiculous in my eyes because it had been quite a time since I had given birth. Now with pregnancy # 2 soon after my 1st trimester was over, my sciatic pain immediately flared up. Once again I do my swimming exercises which give me wonderful relief up until bedtime then I start the pain over until I exercise again. Now that I've hit middle 2nd semester some new & gruesome pains have surfaced. Now if I lay on my back, I get a crunching noise & pain the minute my back hits the bad or floor (& I have a wonderful, pillow top & a feather top that is a separate on my bed) nothing helps.

Also, in making any lifting motion with my left leg (sciatic pain in back of right leg / nerve pain in front of left leg) or even move that leg @ all while laying down regardless of position I get this pain in my groin area that runs right along whatever bone it is right next to the groin area -- pelvis side (not leg side of the groin). Regardless of activity whether I do nothing all day or all week -- or if I exercise it makes no difference. I have tried baths (warm & cold) hot & cold packs, pillows to prop up the legs or lay on the side -- nothing gives me relief except delivery.

So until 40 weeks I am in the miserable boat with the rest of the ladies. I hope that 1 day there is more research done to find a cure not necessarily the origin or even background. Just the cure & a Dr. that can write a release from any working sitting or standing until the lucky day arrives that we are out of pain:) Because employers do not understand either.

I am 24 and 35 weeks pregnant. I have had pain here and there through out my pregnancy. It has actually gotten worse the further along I am.

I will tell you though that I have gotten relief. I have been seeing my Chiropractor all the way through my pregnancy. I probably would be worse off if I had not gone. I would not have done anything different.

I’m a 31 year old, and I have had 3 children. When I was 21 I delivered my first child a boy, he was 7 pounds and some odd ounces, 21 inches long as was all three of them. I didn't seem to have to much trouble with my first child as I remember, but when I became pregnant with my second I seem to have had many different problems, including swelling feet to the point I could hardly walk, and my hips hurt so bad, I was sure they were going to come unhinged, just with a small movement. I had my first and second 5 years apart, so I figured that the reason for all the discomfort was due to me being older, and my body acting as if it was a first all over again, as I knew it felt like I didn't have a clue what I was doing.

Never the less, I wasn't going to dismay as I got pregnant right away the third time and knew exactly what to look forward to, but only GOD knew it was going to be so bad, I was sick from the minute I realized I was sick, except it was like a constant dry heave, I got to the point every smell made me ill, every movement hurt me, and again, I blamed it on my age, as I've heard as a woman gets older its harder on her body, anyways my children suffered as I was a basket case all 10 months, grumpy due to the fact I was such an invalid, when suddenly to make matters worse both my hips seemed to just give out, just like before and if I thought it was bad before, I hadn't saw nothing yet. Moving anytime , anyway, anyhow hurt me so bad, I thought I was going to die, or possibly be crippled for life, and then my siotic nerve on my right leg, felt crushed, as if someone had it kinked, like you do your hose outside, when watering. I even felt like my baby, was laying directly on it, in my hip. Weird, I know but as time went on Id say like 2 weeks before I delivered I was @ my mothers house with my husband and as usual, crying setting in her lazy boy recliner trying to carry a normal conversation on, just visiting, but the pain was so much its all I could think of , suddenly I had a strange idea it , came to me all the sudden it was like I had prayed for so long for help from GOD to please help me, get this pain and at least make it bearable some how.

I told my husband to please come to the end of the chair, and slowly pull each of my legs as they both were terribly in pain, as well as my poor hips, first he gently pulled on my left leg, and it remarkably felt so much relief, and then the right leg, I had him to do this several time that day, and all the sudden on my right leg it felt as if a coil was undone, for example it was like I could visualize my nerve all cramped up in a ball, or something and it was released with my leg being pulled, and it didn't hurt nearly as bad, I felt like I had just recovered from along illness, and at least I had a little relief, my hips still felt unhinged as if any moment I would crumble to the floor. After I delivered it literally did seem my baby girl had laid on my right side of my stomach, I had a huge void there right where she had been laying all along, I even mentioned it to my Dr, and as you all know, Dr's. . . . . . well I mean I love mine, don't get me wrong, but they all seem like woman are just like going on, about stuff.

Anyways, the reason I ended up here is now my little girl is 2 and a half, and now when I about ready to have my period, my hips hurt terribly thank GOD, nothing like before, but never the less it hurts, and down both legs, and my lower back like someone has hit me with a 2 by 4 on my back, and I can hardly get out of bed and I have that same crippling feeling, so I hobble around taking hot baths, and babying myself, finally it will go away, and shortly after I have my period. If you have any ideas about this, feel free to email me.

Oh thank you so much!!!! I am 31, 30 weeks along in my 3rd pregnancy, and have experienced severe hip pain in all three. I am not a whiney person, but am treated as though I am when I mentioned it to my doctors. The only response I got was, "Well, you're pregnant" (said with a shrug)--and then she had the nerve to ask me what I was doing to get regular exercise! I had just explained to her that I could barely *walk*! I just moved and have a different doctor, and I plan on printing out your website to show to her, so perhaps I can be taken seriously this time.

Like many of the women who've written, I have pain with walking, sitting, and lying down. Rolling over in bed is a very painful and slow procedure, and getting up from bed is painful and scary, since several times I have had a hip just give out and fallen.

In my last pregnancy, I went out to get the mail, it was wintertime, and my hip gave out causing me to fall. I was in so much pain, I seriously didn't think I'd be able to get up and my husband would come home and find me frozen in the driveway! I told my OB about it and, thinking it sounded ridiculous but afraid of falling and injuring myself or the baby, asked if she would prescribe crutches or a walker to assist my stability -- she did think it sounded ridiculous and refused. I'm in the US, and the only mention I've ever seen of hip pain during pregnancy refers to it as a minor inconvenience, just another one of the aches and pains of pregnancy.

I am so relieved to see that I am not the only one for whom it is much more than that, and I hope that doctors will become more aware of this problem and do some research on it's causes and treatments.

I don’t necessarily want this to be a ‘contribution’, though don’t mind if it is. My daughter, Jenni, is 5 months pregnant for twins. About 4 weeks ago she got dizzy and passed out, falling to the floor… ever since, she’s been on bed-rest with bathroom privileges. Her problem isn’t so much pain in her hips as an inability for her legs to function. The problem was initially thought to be neurological, but tests came back fine. While I was exercising her legs last night, her husband noticed that her greatest difficulty in movement seemed to come from her hips and the connecting muscles… At this point she literally cannot stand. She is of slight frame and her hips expanded very fast in the beginning of her pregnancy. Of course, it’s quite possible she isn’t experiencing pain because she cannot use her legs or bear any weight and that if she could, it’d be painful. She’s using a bedside commode now, and to go to the doctor (or even to the couch from the bed) a wheelchair is required. When moving her to the wheelchair or commode, most of her weight must be borne by us. Her OB doc says it’s nothing to do with her pregnancy… but………

I’m wondering if anyone else has reported this sort of problem? And, if so, what they did to alleviate it.

I am 27 years old and this is my first pregnancy. I am due on Oct 10, 2002 (I'll be 36 weeks Thursday) and I have been experiencing severe hip pain for the past month. It has gotten progressively worse and for the past two nights I have had no sleep. I have tried taking Tylenol and this offers so relief at all. Getting up to go to the bathroom is almost impossible. when I try to roll over, I feel like someone has a wedge in both hips to prevent them from moving. Once I am to my feet, I can barely stand for the pain. It takes a few steps and my holding to anything within reach, but I eventually manage to get there.

Interesting site. I had been trying to find relief for what seems to be unrelievable back belly and hip pain. This is my third pregnancy and I am due in November.. Not sure of the date right now. I have to go back for an ultrasound on Friday because compared to my last ultrasound due date I was measuring 4 weeks ahead.. so they are just checking things. I am either 29 or 31 weeks pregnant.

For about a month I have had a problem whenever I moved.. like my hips were going to rip.. there was a few days I couldn’t even lift my legs an inch without crying it hurt so bad.. now its not too bad.. still hurts.. every time I move in bed it just hurts and whenever I get up from sitting down it just hurts till I sit down again – in the front of the pelvis area.. maybe it spread to much or something I don’t know, but now for the past week I have had constant backaches that includes occasional upper thigh pain and pressure.

Sitting down standing up.. nothing changes the pain.. when I go to bed it´s a bit better but really tense, so it takes a while for things to not hurt, but I hate laying down too because that’s when I tend to hurt the most with the pelvic thing. I can't seem to find relief in any position anymore.. its getting worse every few days.. what can I do??

I noticed some ladies posted decents. I am from the US but my relatives came from Poland and Sweden.. I am probably about 75% polish.

I've been experiencing pain in both my hips, right in the joints. It's been going on for two weeks now and it won't let up. I wake up very sore in the morning and it feels only slightly better during the day, only to return at

night. I've been sleeping with a pillow between my legs way before the pain even started.

I am of Armenian descent, but have been raised in America. No one I have spoken to has experienced this before, but I have heard that it is common to experience this later in pregnancy, and due to hips separating.

About 25 years ago I started developing intermittent hip pain, mostly in my left hip but occasionally in my right. At times it was so bad I had difficulty walking, although it was never actually "stiff".

After about 5 years, I finally made the connection between my hip pain and my menstrual cycles. I then asked my doctor about it. He explained that it is a rare "hormonal arthritis" caused by the elevated progesterone levels right before my cycle. He elaborated that progesterone and "other hormones" are responsible for the loosening of the pelvic bones in preparation of childbirth, and that unfortunately my body did not know the difference between menstruation and pregnancy.

That sounded so silly that I never repeated it- after all, we all know that doctors can be wrong and the unethical ones will even make something up lest they have to say "I don't know". If my hip pain was so bad that I was visibly bothered by it to the point that people asked, I just said I had arthritis.

Then, 17 years ago, I became pregnant, and the pain increase in severity and duration, until the last trimester when the pain combined with the large baby I was carrying rendered me nearly crippled.

After delivery the pain subsided to pre-pregnancy levels. Now, at age 44, I find the pain is once again increasing in intensity and duration. It also now bothers me upon walking and when I am lying down, whether I am actually lying on my hip or not. The right one now rarely bothers me, it is almost exclusively the left. Of course, I'm sure I'm nearing menopause. So finally, after 25 years, I finally decide to revisit the subject and do some research on the internet.

I am shocked to find that my condition is not "rare" at all! I am also dismayed to find that there is apparently little that can be done for it, except, in my case, wait for menopause to complete, which may be decades.

I am American, definitely have some German blood from both parents but to what percentage I do not know. I am unaware if I have any Scandinavian blood.

Thank you for your site- I thought I was going mad or I had done something wrong. I had heard of back pain but not this particular type of hip pain. It has just started, I am 26 weeks into my first pregnancy and over this last week the pain has gotten worse. I thought it was due to lack of movement. I sit down for my job. I started moving about more and it has gotten worse.

I find that the muscles at the top of my butt are sore to press and my right leg from my hip to my knee aches when I sit or lay. When I get up to walk it feels like I might have arthritis or some bone infection all down my right leg and especially in my hip joint.

I might try the chiropractor, warm bath and soft bed approach to see if it gets better. Thank you all for your stories. I have spent a lot of time in Norway - maybe it is contagious. My background is Mostly English with some Finnish.

I am 38 years old and I been having hip pain since my fourth month. My doctor has referred me to a physical therapist but they can not get me in at four months.

I am waiting to get in to his office, it is now my 7th month and I have an appointment.

Excerising makes it worse, I work in an office all day sitting and when I go home at night to relax, this is when it gets worse. Can't sleep at night.

I am 32 and 33 weeks pregnant. I have been experiencing hip pain since I began my last trimester. My pain started out as a shooting pain from my hip down my leg, now the pain is constant and excruciating. The pain started if I would sit flat on the floor or in the tub. Now the pain occurs at all times walking, sleeping, standing, sitting, getting up and sitting down.

The scariest time came when I was sitting on the floor a week ago and a numbing, tingling sensation went from my hip down my legs. Then I was in pain and my husband had to lift me off the floor and to a chair. I called my doctor. The nurse told me the pain was coming from the baby being position on a nerve or a joint. She informed me it was OK for me to take Tylenol every 4 hours as needed. I tried that and received very little relief.

I asked my sister who had given birth, if she had this problem and she said no. After further research on the internet. I found an article, www.pregnancytoday.com , about someone else that had this problem and received relief through a Prenatal Massage Therapist. I have found a couple in my area and intend on giving it a try. At this point, I will try anything to receive some relief.

I hope this will be of help to someone else.

Karen B.

I am very interested to read this web site as for 6 months I have been trying to obtain information about orthopaedic/ soft tissue trauma endured during and post pregnancy. I am 30 and delivered a baby boy in January this year. I experienced lower back pain in pregnancy, but no hip pain. However, immediately post delivery experienced ongoing pain in the hip/ coccyx area. This has been quite debilitating for these recent months and unrelenting. I am told this is very common but have never met anyone with such a condition. I have been treated by a specialist obstetrician and physiotherapist, but neither have helped.

I am writing to you because I wondered about a support group for this condition and could see amazing parallels between pregnancy hip pain and the pain I have been experiencing since delivery. Any information or correspondence would be appreciated. I am not from Scandinavia or of Scandinavian descent.

I'm also in my second pregnancy and experiencing hip problems for the first time. The hip cracking at night is really gut-churning and sleeping in any position for more than an hour makes my hips and legs throb. Last night during my regular 2.000am toilet vigil I could barely walk after getting out of bed. I habbled like an old lady.

Good news is that I find enormous relief after swimming. I don't know if it's the weightlessness or the actual exercise, but 20 minutes of slow swimming ( just kicking with a flotation device will do it) seems to get everything back into whack and gives me a much better night's sleep. I have to say that throughout both pregnancies our local heated pool has been a god send, much more effective for me than any massage.

With a 2.5 year old at home, my 20 minute silent reprieve in the water is a real treat, too!)

My name is April, and I am currently 36 weeks pregnant. My hip pain began early in the second trimester, but only became unbearable in the third. A few weeks ago I mentioned the pain to my doctor again pointing out to him that the only way I could sleep even a few hours was to sit up or lay down on a very firm surface, in this case, my couch. It seemed to stabilize one hip, unfortunately, the one I wasn't laying on would begin to ache after awhile. He was at a loss as for what to do so he recommended I see a physiotherapist. I did this and after a quick evaluation the physiotherapist decided that the problem seemed to be only that I was a normally tight limbed person(very common in European women he mentioned) and that as the relaxing hormone began to relax my joints, it caused me more problems than it would someone who was perhaps more flexible.

When I mentioned to him sleeping on a firm surface, he was given the assumption that, by laying on a firm surface, I was able to stabilize my hips and prevent them from moving during the night and causing pain. So he let me take home a belt, its called a Sacroiliac belt, and is commonly used by pregnant women. It is basically just a hip belt that fastens with velcro and is elastic and holds the hips in place. Naturally I tried it that first night, and I was able to sleep the whole night through without any pain at all! I have since purchased the belt and am no longer having any problems sleeping at night. Since my pain is not so terrible during the day, I make due without it. I still feel a dull ache at times during the night, but its nothing that can't be ignored for a good nights sleep.

I really recommend that all these women talk to their doctors and a physiotherapist about this belt. After they rule out a sciatic nerve problem, they would probably recommend such a belt for you as well, just mention it to him. The belt does have a web page which is www.serolabio.com and you can find the belt under Products. I have purchased it for $45Cdn. And although it seems like quite a bit of cash for something I will only wear for another 4 or 5 weeks, I really feel that the sleep I've been able to get because of it is more than worth the price!

I am 22 weeks along in my first pregnancy, and have been experiencing hip pain for the past week, although I've noticed pain in my sacrum (bony back part of the pelvis right above the buttocks) for over a month (if I lie on a hard floor). The pain started as a twinge when I'd have to make a major movement (getting out of bed or a car) and sometimes while I walk, but now its while I'm sitting, getting up out of a chair, and 40% of the time while I'm walking.

The pain is enough for me to wince - and it usually takes my breath away - and I have to waddle a few steps before the pain subsides. My doctor suspects that it's the baby lying in the pelvic girdle in such a way that it's putting pressure on the ball and head of the femur. I'm of northern German extraction, but my husband is 1/2 Swedish. It's somewhat interesting that when I was born, I dislocated my mother's hip when I "dropped" into the birth canal (fortunately, a chiropractor was easily able to slip it back into place, but she had to convalesce for two weeks afterward ...).

I am 33 and am 36 weeks pregnant. I have been experiencing hip pain for the past 3+ weeks. Everyday seems to get worse. Today, for some reason, is absolutely excruciating. We just moved to a new house this past weekend and I did stay off of my feet alot. I know of no other people who have experienced this in their pregnancies. These past few days I am finding my self not only hurting physically but emotionally I feel so down. Having only a few weeks left should bring me some relief and positive thinking. But I have a hard time staying positive when with each step I take I am in pain.

I can't seem to find anything that really relieves this. Sitting too long hurts. Sleeping hurts. Walking hurts. Taking Tylenol brings very little relief, pain is always there.

Doctor has no suggestions or solutions (except saying that when the baby comes I will get relief). I have called a physical therapist and an accupuncturist. Neither had any suggestions, nor did they feel confident that they could help. Since they feel it is in the ligaments and not muscular.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Linda C. Hoffmann, USA
Email: elsee@comcast.net
AIM: Elsee68

I am a little over three months pregnant. I started having hip pain at about two months. Some of my problem is Bursitis in my right hip. Tylenol or Celebrex does not help at all. I found comfort in what one of your previous contributors had said.

I padded my normal mattress with about 8 blankets and 1 egg crate cushion. I was still a little uncomfortatable but I did not wake up with the excruciating pain that I used to in the middle of the night.

I am in the 29th week of my second pregnancy and am experiencing terrible hip pain. I also experienced hip pain with my first pregnancy, but not to this extent. It is so bad that it is difficult to walk. If I turn the wrong way or stand from a sitting position, the pain is enough to take my breath away.

Today, I fell in the lawn while walking. My hip just gave out. Excercise makes my condition much worse and rest seems to be the only remedy. However, with a 16 month old to take care of, I am not able to get much rest. My doctor does not seem to grasp the extent of my pain, but does attribute it to hormonal changes. My friends who have gone through pregnancy themselves think I am crazy!

I am very greatful for your website. I'm so glad to know I'm not alone. I found it very interesting that this ailment seems to affect Scandinavian women as my great-grandparents were Norwegian immigrants!!

Thank you for the information and support on your website. It doesn't take my pain away, but I sure do feel better.

Hi ~ I couldn't believe that I'd find anything about this since my doctors has told me it's just all a part of being pregnant. This is my third pregnancy. I'm 31 and have about 5 weeks to go. I've been suffering horribly with Hip Pain for the last 4 months. I can barely sit, stand, walk, or lay without pain. I haven't slept in months. The pain when I lay is so bad I just want to cry. It takes me so long just to get up from the bed, turning is a involved procedure that brings me to tears regardless of what I try. Everyone says just relax (really easy with a 2 and 3 year old at home). But as soon as I sit, it hurts, as soon as I walk it hurts, and soon as I lay it hurts. I've decided that my body take the chance to relax as a chance to tense up and it get worse.

I live in the US, I am American and every person I've ever asked or told about this never experienced it or thinks I'm crazy. The pain seems to be the same whether I've overdone it or not. When I try to move in bed at night to keep adjusting so one side doesn't get more pressure than the other, my hips lock and I have to crack them just to move, I feel like I'm going to break myself in half doing this. I'm still amazed that this is a real thing. I do suffer from sciatic pain which is like a walk in the park compared to this. I printed all this information out for my docotor to see that other people are suffering from this so if by chance another woman comes in they can tell her about this website. I'd love to hear if from anyone who is finding relief in some way.

I have also experienced some hip pain. I am 33 years old and pregnant for the first time. I am actually only 4 weeks pregnant and have been experiencing hip pain for about one week. It is especially painful after my husband and I take our nightly walk. I was wondering if it had anything to do with my pregnancy when I stumbled upon you web page. My ancestor are from Denmark so I'm hoping it won't get too bad because I have a long way to go.

I just wanted to share with you my experiences with hip pain. I am currently pregnant for the third time and for each pregnancy, my hip pain starts no later than 8 weeks of pregnancy. The more hard physical labor I do, the more I aggrivate it. Even too much cycling on the road can aggrivate it. This being the third time I've dealt with it, I've learned that taking it easy is the key. I still go for 30 minute walks or bike rides each day, but once it starts to feel a little irritated, I back off for the rest of the day. I also avoid laying on my back, especially on a firm surface.

Laying on the side the hurts at night seems to make it feel better by putting pressure on the sore area. Warm baths is another friend of mine for this ordeal. I am not of Scandinavian descent though, so no real predisposition there. However, when I was a teenager, I fell on my hip three times in a row in a 10 minute time span on the ice and that may have done it for me. I have had it so severe a few times that I almost couldn't walk, but that was because I was snow skiing until 26 or 28 weeks of pregnancy the first two times. This time, I won't do that!

This being the third time I've dealt with this, I should have it figured out by now to TAKE IT EASY. Some of the damage done during pregnancy does not go away afterward, but exercise to keep the hip muscles and back muscles strong help immensly in easing the pain (in the hip) after childbirth and recovering from the soreness.

It's also good for me to hear that others experience the pregnancy hip pain. It was so excruciating with my first, I thought I had developed arthritis.

I'm just now in my 2nd trimester and have only had one night of wakefulness secondary to hip pain. I am an RN and was aware that the hormone relaxin was loosening up all the joints for delivery, but not everyone seems to have the hip pain.

I'm a "heinz 57" by nationality but probably 1/4 German.

I find that alternating hips frequently and having major pillow support has helped. I'm also taking Ligaplex, a nutritional supplement, this time around to see if therapy to support the joints helps any.

Fun site, I found it today looking for mommy/baby poems. --Becky V.

My name is Kristina Fortowsky, from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. My background is German, but I don't know if that is related at all. I was very pleased to find your website while I was looking for baby poems to put on our baby announcements (I'm due in 9 days), and all the support about hip pain.

I'm not sure if I have been experiencing the same thing, but I'd say definately during the last 4 weeks I have found it quite hard somedays to walk or climb the stairs (and we live in a 4 level split!). My pain seems more groin-oriented. It feels like I did the splits all night long!! It hurts in my groin to move my legs any way, but especially the adduction/abduction movements. My doctor, also, just dismissed my complaints and probably thinks I'm just a big baby! I have only encountered one friend who said she had hip pain in her last weeks, as well.

Thanks again for the support, ladies! It is so nice to know that although we may have to put up with this pain, we are not alone in it!

I am from Maryland, USA and am now, in my last month of pregnancy with my second child. The pain you describe seems identical to what I have been experiencing. It is excruciating at night, and a good night's sleep sounds wonderful until I attempt to get up. I had attributed the pain to a bad automobile accident that I had experienced just before becoming pregnant with my first child, since most of my damage was on the left side where my hip pain is. However, I do not remember the pain being this intense with my first pregnancy. One would think that it would be worse then, since the accident had just happened if that was the root of the problem. Now, I often cannot walk on my own when first attempting to stand up, or as someone mentioned, when waking in the middle of the night. The pain is quite comparable to a very badly bruised hip bone. I too am very active, and as a teacher in my last few weeks, find that sometimes in school, I feel helpless to get around my classroom to my students.

I have one week to go until my due date and cannot even take leave early (without losing pay) because my doctors seem to think this is "no big deal." I feel like a complete wimp for not being able to handle this, as I am not usually the type to complain. I just hope this is more widely recognized in the future, and that doctors spread the word so that more women are not made to feel like I feel now...helpless, and compelled to continue doing things at work that aggravate the pain even more.

I happened upon your site and I was very surprised that you addressed the very subject that plagues me- hip pain! I am 32 and I am 28 weeks pregnant. This is my 3rd child. I had bad hip pain with my first two pregnancies but this one is almost incapacitating me. I see a chiropractor now for about 3 months and he has relieved some of my pain during the day. I first saw him reluctantly but in desperation because I had trouble caring for my other two children ( ages 7 and 3). In addition to adjusting my hip, he includes deep muscle manipulation and heat therapy. I didn't realize how much he would help me!

After seeing him only twice I could finally walk again. Unfortunately nothing he seems to do can help me at night when the pain actually takes my breath away. I had one breakthrough recently that I wanted to share. I fell asleep one night on my son's bed. His bed is extremely soft where mine is probably about average firmness. I was able to sleep straight thru the night for the first time in 6 months! I couldn't imagine why because his bed is probably a chiropractors worst nightmare. When I spoke to him about that, he felt that it relieves the pressure on the hip joint where the firm mattress would only aggravate the hip joint and stress it. Although he admits I have him stumped, he wants me to stay on this mattress to relieve the joint.

Now I can function enough to try and lead a normal ( though pregnant) life! I work part time in the medical field and am on my feet at all times when I work. I can now hopefully work until the end like I intended. The only other thing that seems to aggravate this condition is when I sit for a long time on a couch or some other chair that is not supportive on my thighs- I have a glider from when I had my son and we put it in the den. It has helped me to sit in that rather than on the couch to watch a movie or read a book.

I think that this condition will be diagnosed in the near future and we will all be heroes for enduring it as we have! For now, I suppose we struggle thru it and listen to our bodies. It helped me a great deal to know that there are others that have this and that I am not crazy! I know what sciatica feels like and round ligament as well and this pain is totally different!

Unfortunately, I am not of Norwegian descent- I am Irish and 1/4 German, so I don't support your theory of region. If there is any theories to what causes this condition even if it is speculation, please contact me. It has been agony living thru this and whatever support I can be to others puts my mind at ease.

Hello! I read what was written in your pages about hip pain. I think it's very interesting because I'm of Norwegian and Danish descent and have had hip pain for several weeks now (I'm in my 23rd week). The doctor acts like it's no big deal, but it's very painful. Do you know if there are any other web sites about this and what to do to stop it? It feels like my hips (particularly the right one) are coming out of their sockets.

Lara Gardner
Corvallis, Oregon USA

The next contribution was sent to me from Becky Pollock in USA (February 1998). Thank you very much, Becky!!

I really enjoyed your web page. I have a 4-year-old called Camilla Elise, and I am expecting my second child in May. I was especially glad to read your information about hippain. I too have this problem, as did my mother. I live in Oklahoma in the U.S.A., and most people I know have not experienced this problem in pregnancy. My worst pain comes from sleeping. It seems like any position I sleep in, is painful. It is just nice to know that someone else had the same problem. The doctors here don't seem to realize how troublesome hip pain can be. Like I said before, thanks for such a great Web sight, and keep up the good work!
- Becky Pollock

Debra Richardson from Raleigh, NC, USA, sent me this contribution about hip pain during pregnancy. I have received so many mails from women around the world, telling me about this problem. It seems to be more commen than anyone knows! Thank you, Debra! (May 1998)

I'm in the USA and am due June 21 with my first baby. I've have had hip pain for almost 4 weeks now. I've had sciatic pain before and this is NOT sciatic pain. My doctor said it's the ligaments stretching due to the relaxin hormone. So I guess I've got what a lot of Norwegian women get...

Anyway, I just wrote to say I like your Web page and was thankful to know that other pregnant women have experienced this relaxin-induced pain. I've not talked with any other US woman yet that has had a similar pain during pregnancy. (They just look at me like I'm a nut!)

By the way, to prove how rare the hip pain is in the US, my doctor said it might *help* me to exercise. Go figure! I've just been doing as much as I feel like, but getting lots of rest. I take very short walks whenever I exercise. And I don't do a lot of shopping anymore.

Hi Kathrine,

You talk about hip pain and the fact that it does not seem to be a problem outside of Norway. I am 31, 28 weeks pregnant and experiencing pelvic pain. I am not particularly large, I've gained about 20 lbs. I am in excellent
physical shape. I excercise and walk regularly but tire much easier now. I've been amazed at the discomfort I've had. Just thought you should know that we here in the States experience this too.

For me, I seemed to experience pain in the 6 month around the 25 - 26th weeks. It felt as though my pelvic bone was bruised and the floor muscles of my uterus were strained. I noticed more lower back and abdominal pain during this period. I am very active (aerobic excercise 3x per week and walk min. 3 miles 3x per week. it was very difficult for me to keep a regular schedule. I found water aerobics to cause the least amount of stress and pain. I did notice that abduct or aduct excercises were very difficult and I tried to avoid them.

I'm feeling much better now in my 30th week (I've gained approx. 20 lbs). I still have fatigue in my low back, abdomin and hips but it is much less painful. I do notice that sleeping on my side as opposed to by back relieves the stress.

Maria Jacobson

- The interesting thing here is that Maria´s Mother is German and Scandinavian (and hip pain during pregnancy is very common in Scandinavia)

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