Are you suffering from pelvic pain? And finding that every step you take
is really wearing you down?
Hi, I'm Michelle, and fortunately, there are some ways that you can get instant relief
from pelvic pain during pregnancy. Today I'm going to guide you through the garments that
you can wear during pregnancy to get some extra stability through your pelvic joints.
And also too I'm going to show you some ways that get immediate relief at home when you're resting,
when you're sitting, and also too when you're moving around and try to do your everyday tasks.
So before we start that I need to show you where the pain comes from so that you understand where
it's coming from. And also to by understanding this condition you'll be able to manage it
yourself much better. Now you'll know that pelvic pain presents normally in the buttock,
so it usually presents in one buttock or both buttock cheeks. And it comes from some joints
that are underneath those buttock cheeks and they're called the Sacroiliac Joints . Now
if we take a look at these joints, I've got them in a model here I can show you.
Obviously, this is the spine and this is your pelvis at the so from the front.
So these are the pelvic joints in here. Normally these joints are very fixed and
closed. And they're covered by some tissues that actually stabilize them and keep them contracted
there. Keep those joints contracted and stop them from moving. Now when you're pregnant
these tissues and you can see the tissues here become soft. And when they're obviously becoming
soft so that your baby can pass through your pelvis. And also to with pregnancy, you start
to increase weight through your pelvis with the weight of your baby and your posture changes.
So what happens is these joints can start to start moving with these pregnancy hormones
and it can start any time during pregnancy. Unfortunately, this kind of issue usually gets
worse as your pregnancy progresses. And also too it can happen continue happening after pregnancy
and in future pregnancy, so it's something that you really want to get on top of well.
Now if we have a closer look at the pelvis and unfortunately I've got an old pelvis here
that actually moves around, so I can show you what happens. So when you have weight through one side
you can see that those joints start to actually move. So this would be when you're standing that
the leg comes up through here hip bone into here. And these joints start to move more
than what they would normally. So the treatment is twofold. The first thing we want to do is
Stabilize the pelvis and stop those joints moving. I think you can see that. The second thing we want
to do is also and you can do that by a brace or by exercises over the joint. But the second
thing to we want to do is to stop the forces that actually cause that movement. And I'm going to be
going through those things with you today so you can instantly do this at home and get relief.
We'll start with the garments that you can wear. Know that you've got exercises you can do and you
can refer to my exercise videos specifically on exercises for SI Joint Instability, so I've
got that covered in a separate video for you to start with. Now, fortunately, you can do those
exercises with the garments I'm about to show you. First garment I'd like to show you is a Pregnancy
Compression garment and this is by SRC Health. This has a number of features that I really like
for pelvic instability. Now you can see here that there's a panel through here. And this is a panel
of three layers of material and that actually provides compression to the Sacroiliac Joints
through the front and right through the back. So wearing it in a garment
like this means that this bracing or this compression stays in place and it also too
allows you then to sleep in this garment, move, do your normal everyday activities during the course
of the day and it's not going to move out of place. The other thing I like about this garment
is there's a Support Gusset so pelvic pain can also present through the front,
through the pubic symphysis. So when the joints at the back start to move, then the joint at the
front can also move. So this is an all-in-one compression garment that will help provide that
stability. It's really for mild to moderate pelvic pain, not so much for the severe pain.
And it's also to a great way of preventing pelvic pain too during your pregnancy. The fabric's
really lightweight, so that it's breathable when you're pregnant and you're not likely to overheat.
SRC have kindly donated a 5 discount and you can get that discount in the link below if you're
interested in purchasing these garments. Now the other thing I want to show you is a Pelvic Brace.
A pelvic brace is more for severe pelvic pain and it can actually be worn over the top of
this garment as well. Let's have a look at the pelvic brace. Now, this is a pelvic brace. These
braces compress or hold the pelvis together the way I was showing you before. Now they fit
low down so they'd fit much lower than what you expect a normal brace to fit. Around the hips,
around there, and they actually are designed to pull tight and stabilize those joints.
There's only two problems with these braces that I really see. One is that you have to
do them up and undo them every time you sit down, and then go back into standing. And the
other thing too is they can move out of place a little bit as well, so there are some drawbacks
to the brace. But as I said, they can also be worn over the top of the SRC uh leggings so you could
get double support for your major conditions where you've got really great instability.
Now let's talk about ways you can get Immediate Relief at home. Now the first thing you can do is
when you're resting. And when you're resting, you want to be able to lie down and feel pain-free.
The way that you can do that is lie with your sore side uppermost. So let's say you have pain
in the left side of your buttock, you'd lie down with your left side up lying on your right side.
Put a pillow lengthwise between your legs and that will stop you, help to stop you rolling.
And you might also like to add to that with a pillow against your chest so that your whole
body is supported. You might have seen the body pillows that are also available too,
to actually give you that whole-body stability. When you roll, keep the pillow
between your knees. And roll like a log rather than twisting and rotating through your pelvis,
so that your body stays straight. So that's how you can rest obviously on a firm mattress
when you're pregnant and you've got pelvic instability. When you're sitting there's
also some important things that you can do. Avoid sitting on a low chair, a low lounge.
Try to opt for a firmer supportive dining chair where you've got good higher support rather than
the low support. Sitting down on the lower chair we'll pre- we'll place more pressure
on your pelvis and your lower back, so try to sit on a higher firmer chair if you can. Avoid
crossing your legs. As soon as you cross your legs, you'll gap your sacroiliac joint which is
what you don't want to do. Remember we're trying to stabilize that. So try to sit with your weight
evenly supported. Sit yourself with good posture nice and tall in that nice firm higher chair.
Now finally, when you're walking around this can be one of the biggest problems can't it.
The first- my first suggestion is try to stand with your weight evenly supported not uneven.
So if you're nursing a toddler for example, if you stand like that with your hip out it's going
to affect your pelvis. So try to stand weight evenly distributed between both legs. Try to take
small steps when you're walking. If you're taking larger steps it's harder to control
that pelvic instability, so small steps are the way to go for controlling that pelvis.
Also too, try to avoid standing on one leg. So you can see your yoga pose here the single leg stand,
try not to do that during pregnancy especially if your pelvis is unstable so you trying to keep your
weight evenly supported. And even when you're getting dressed, sit down to get dressed rather
than standing on one leg to put your garments on. Sit down and dress in that manner. Finally,
try to avoid stairs. You'll know that when you're on stairs you've got that single leg standing
effect happening again. If you really must do stairs, step up with the unaffected side first,
and then step together rather than taking all the steps at once. So it's going to be a step
up with the unaffected side, step together. Step up, and step together rather than missing a step.
So i think you can see there are quite a number of things you can do. First of all, to improve
the stability in your pelvis. And secondly to stop those uneven forces affecting your pelvis.
So I really hope the information in this video helps you to stabilize your pelvis
and understand what you can do to manage this condition well during your pregnancy. If this
video has helped you, I'd really appreciate it if you could give it a like below because this
helps other women with pelvic instability find the video too. And don't forget that link below
if you're looking for the SRC Pregnancy support leggings. Thanks so much for watching today,
I look forward to exercising with you again soon. Bye for now!