Pelvic Girdle Pain

Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) is a description for any pain in and around the pelvis. This can be associated with pregnancy, you may have heard this being described in the past as SPD (symphysis pubis dysfunction). It might feel like lower back pain, thigh pain, buttock pain, groin pain or discomfort in your lower abdomen, but in my experience this varies from person to person.

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Unfortunately there are some long standing myths about PGP, for example that breastfeeding makes the pain worse, that it is purely a hormonal cause and that it is due to an unstable pelvis. Luckily the research is beginning to show that what we believed about PGP might not be the case.

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In lots of cases the pain disappears after birth, but with some people it can persist. If you're like me and the pain persists well into the postpartum period despite manual therapy, it might be that tackling your pain from a different perspective might help, this could include looking at lifestyle factors, finding safe and achievable ways to introduce some movement into the painful area and understanding what pain is and why the body produces it.

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See the infographic for current evidence.

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Learn more about chronic pain here.