Early Pregnant With Lots Of Hip Pain – Is This Normal?
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I am early pregnant about six weeks and the hip pain and groin pain is awful. It comes and goes. What is causing it?
Abdominal pain, hip and groin pain during pregnancy is all too common. As is an increased vaginal discharge. Most often it is caused by round ligament pain. These pains are the due to normal changes of pregnancy that your body is going through.
Round Ligament Pain Causes
Round ligament pain refers to the type of abdominal and pelvic pain caused by the round ligaments being stretched and pulled.
Female pelvis and its contents, seen from above and in front. Click to see a larger image.
- The uterus normally is the size of a small pear. It is supported by a thick net of ligaments. These ligaments attach to the pelvis and lower back. As the uterus grows and changes shape the ligaments are stretched into long thin ligaments, kind of like stretching a rubber band.
- As the uterus grows during pregnancy, the ligaments pull on the pelvis and lower back causing pain. Even though round ligament pain is uncomfortable, it is a normal part of pregnancy.
- Most of the ligament pain is caused by involuntary spasms of the ligaments. The spasms occur more on the right side than the left due to the uterus’s natural tendency to turn to the right during pregnancy.
- Exercise can trigger the pain. Simply changing positions like standing up.
Round Ligament Pain Solutions
- Gently massage / rub pelvic area
- See your chiropractor for an alignment. With all of the changes in your body during pregnancy your back is getting pulled out of alignment. Getting your back adjusted is perfectly safe during pregnancy.
- Soaking in a warm bath. But remember not to get the bath water over 102 degrees as it will over heat the baby and can cause developmental problems with your baby.
- Change how you get up, how quickly you rise from a sitting or lying down position. Rising or sitting down more gradually and avoiding sudden movements may decrease the ligament spasms.
- Acetaminophen (Tylenol) can be taken to reduce the pain and discomfort. The less medicine you take during your pregnancy the better it is for your growing baby.
Not every woman will suffer from round ligament pain. When you are pregnant your body goes through a lot of physical and hormonal changes. The thick uterine ligaments are stretched thin. The relaxin hormone causes all of the ligaments in your body to relax which is what give women in their third trimester the classic pregnancy waddle when they walk. These changes are natural and unavoidable.
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