The biggest cause of the development of pelvic instability is hormones. A variety of hormones are released during the beginning phase of the pregnancy. These hormones are creating the ideal environment for your baby. There are also hormones that are already keeping themselves busy with childbirth, like the hormone Relaxin does, for example. Relaxin, along with a few other hormones, make sure that your pelvic tendons are weaker. This already happens pretty early on in the pregnancy to make sure that your baby is able to fit through your pelvis. Pelvic instability generally occurs during or around the pregnancy and will go away by itself after 3 to 4 months. However, there’s still a chance that you still experience pelvic instability after childbirth. If you so happen to still have pelvic instability after 6 months, then you could be dealing with the chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
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7 things that worsen pelvic instability
Hormones are cause number one when it comes to developing pelvic instability. But there are still a few other factors that influence the severity of your pelvic pain when you have pelvic instability during your pregnancy.
- The general shape. Women that are in a good shape have stronger muscles and recover faster.
- Being overweight has disadvantageous influences on your pelvic instability. The additional weight presses on the already overloaded pelvis and will cause you to have more pelvic pain.
- The growing belly will put more pressure on the pelvis, which means that you will experience more pelvic instability in the course of your pregnancy.
- Doing heavy duty work like lifting heavy things participating in other hefty labor will have a detrimental effect on your pelvic instability. The pelvic tendons are burdened even more.
- Sitting or standing in the same position for a prolonged period of time will have a harmful effect on your pelvic tendons. You’ll overburden the pelvic tendons this way.
- Shifting your weight to one leg. Always stand firm with your weight divided over both of your legs and don’t shift your weight to one leg.
- Walking the stairs can become troublesome. Take one step at a time or avoid the stairs as much as possible.
Pregnancy is the biggest cause of pelvic instability
A pregnancy is the biggest cause for developing pelvic instability. Your pelvis consists out of bones, joints, muscles and tendons. And every part has its own task. Your bones form a kind of firm home for your organs, for example. The bladder, intestines, uterus and prostate are all safely in there. The pelvic tendons keep the bones in place. These tendons give proper stability, because bones consist out of loose parts. So the tendons keep everything tightly together. Now, what happens to your pelvic tendons when you are pregnant? They become weak because of the amount of released hormones. The tendons won’t be as tight anymore like they were before your pregnancy, which is a good thing. Your baby does need to fit through your pelvis eventually, after all. But the pelvic instability starts early because of that. The tendons will become weaker and weaker throughout the pregnancy, which means that your pelvic instability will have increased quite a bit at the end of your pregnancy. You can imagine that your bones will have more space to move. Everything will shift and move around a bit. That isn’t too comfortable. But luckily not everyone is dealing with pelvic instability and pelvic pain.
Pelvic instability after the pregnancy
Even after the pregnancy, your pelvic instability won’t go away immediately. The pelvic tendons need to get back in place and that isn’t going too fast. But the pregnancy hormones will disappear and the pelvic tendons will become tighter again. In most cases, the nagging sensation of the pelvic instability will disappear after the first 4 weeks after childbirth.
The duration of pelvic instability
From the moment you experience pelvic instability, it can take 3 to 4 months before it goes away. So are you experiencing a nagging sensation in your lower back, a tugging sensation of a strap around your pelvis, or are you quick to feel a fatigued sensation in or around the pelvic girdle? Then you have the starting sign of pelvic instability. Having the feeling of pelvic instability often occurs in week 16 of the pregnancy. The belly grows and the weight of the abdomen puts additional pressure on the pelvis. The belly is another cause when it comes to increasing the pelvic instability. The weight will be lifted after childbirth and the released hormones will disappear. You’ll notice that the sensation of pelvic instability will fade with it. If the pelvic instability still stays around for longer than 6 months, then you might be dealing with the chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
Every pregnant woman develops pelvic instability
Every pregnant women will get pelvic instability. This isn’t avoidable and it’s a necessary process. Pelvic instability is actually normal and only showcases your pelvic girdle becoming unstable. Generally when someone tells you that they have pelvic instability, you will immediately go ‘Oh no! I feel so sorry for you!’, but this is just a natural process. However, the term ‘pelvic instability’ did get a negative meaning. Not everyone experiences pelvic pain when they have pelvic instability. Your pelvis is changing drastically so it can always cause some painful issues. But does it hurt a lot? And is your pain limiting your daily life as well? These are the most important questions. If you answer was ‘yes’ to those questions, then your body may not be able to handle the developed pelvic instability. It’s a good idea to find out why your body isn’t able to properly catch up the pelvic instability.
The back- and abdominal muscles with pelvic instability and pelvic issues
Your abs and back muscles play an important role in being able to catch up the pelvic instability. But this doesn’t say it all, because remember, even professional athletes can experience pelvic pain when they have pelvic instability. The muscles of fit people and especially professional athletes are a lot stronger to be able to support the pelvic girdle, however. This group of people will experience less pelvic pain. These sporty people often are less overweight and aren’t pressuring the pelvis as much. Being fit is key.
The balance between being active and resting is very important too. It’s important that you don’t keep on doing pressuring movements. Think of heavy lifting, standing, bending over, sitting for too long, and shifting your weight on 1 leg for too long. Your pelvic tendons are getting too pressured with these activities. It is possible to stay in shape during your pregnancy. Do easy but necessary exercises. You need to properly plan out your resting moments throughout the day and switch up your activities with a healthy amount of rest. If you’re still able to walk, walk small distances. You don’t have to go far but it’s important to keep moving. It has been proven that fit women keep less complications after childbirth. It’s beneficial for you and for your baby that you are in a moderate shape when you go into labor. You’ll experience less issues during but also after the pregnancy when you stay in shape. You can also keep on exercising when you have pelvic instability.
Is the pelvis important?
You can compare your pelvis to a crucial bridge. A bridge between your upper body and lower body. Everything goes down through your pelvis. Think of all the nerves and blood vessels, for example. Even the tiniest vessel in your little toe is being provided with blood that has traveled through your pelvis. So you can imagine that when your pelvic girdle has been disrupted and functions differently, that this can cause issues throughout your whole body. Maybe an artery or nerve has been compressed by weakening tendons. Your pelvis does grow and loosen up, after all. You can expect a lot of radiation towards the legs, because when a nerve is trapped or irritated in your pelvic girdle, and this nerve so happens to go to your leg, it can cause some serious shooting pains. A nagging sensation is also commonly heard.
Pelvic instability with pelvic pain
It doesn’t always mean that you experience pelvic pain issues coming from your pelvic instability. However, it is possible that you do. Pelvic pain is the most common issue when it comes to pelvic instability. You can recognize pelvic pain as a nagging or stabbing pain in the groin, hips, lower back or even in the pelvic girdle. Pelvic pain can be very painful and is often caused by pelvic instability. It’s possible that a nerve becomes trapped when the pelvic tendons become weaker. You should make sure that you take proper rest after doing some activities when you experience pelvic pain. Do you feel pain? Then take a break. But don’t become bedridden. Being in a moderate to a good shape is important. You will recover slower when your shape decreases.
If you suffer from pelvic pain during your pregnancy, then read what you can do about it here.
I still have a lot of handy tips about staying in shape and dealing with pelvic instability on my website. There are a lot of handy exercises at the ready for you as well. Go for it!
Other pelvic issues with pelvic instability
There’s a joint around your pelvis that controls the balance between your upper and lower body. You can find those joints in your lower back. Try to look for the two dips on your lower back – and in terms for your pelvis. This is your SI-joint, a joint that isn’t too mobile, but it does provide balance. If your tendons become too weak, your SI-joints can become too mobile as well. This can cause you to feel pelvic pain. However, you will experience some pains here and there during your pregnancy anyway, because a lot is changing. Pelvic issues like a sore pubic bone, tailbone, butt, or having urinal incontinence, an overactive or underactive pelvic floor, and radiation to the upper legs are commonly heard too. This doesn’t immediately mean you have pelvic instability but it COULD come from pelvic instability. If these pelvic issues go away by themselves when you’re resting, then you have nothing to worry about. It’s important that you balance out being active with resting. Make sure to know when to take breaks throughout the day or take a moment of rest in between activities. You really need it!
Pelvic floor muscles during and before the pregnancy
Your pelvic tendons aren’t the only things changing during the pregnancy. The pelvic floor muscles also become weaker. For example, you can leak urine when you have an additional pressure on the abdomen. The pressure in your belly increases when you laugh, sneeze, cough, push or hold your breath. It’s a good advice to keep your pelvic floor muscles active and strong. Do some good exercises before and especially during the pregnancy to minimalize the influence your pelvic issues may have on your pregnancy.
Posture and movement with pelvic instability during the pregnancy
Keep your posture in mind as well. The gravity point of your body will change because of your growing belly. You see a lot of pregnant women walk with a hollowed back and the belly pushed forward. You will walk differently because of it, which means that you use your pelvis differently, so you will pressure your muscles in a different way too. This also means that you will use your muscles differently and this way you can overload them. Having another posture can cause you more issues. So keep thinking about how you walk, sit, and how you do activities. Of course it will become harder along the way. Your belly just keeps on growing. The weight keeps increasing and your gravity point will shift more forward. You will keep having the idea that you’re about to tip over when you’re adjusting your posture. Keep walking up straight with a back that isn’t too hollow. Tilt your pelvis a bit backwards. Otherwise, go stand in front of a mirror and look sideways at yourself. Is your back nicely straight, or are you standing slouched or with a very hollowed out back? Exercise the tilting of your pelvis. You’ll notice that you have become way more aware about your posture. I’ve also composed a few handy tricks and exercises. The included easy instruction will be able to help you out. Good luck!
Pelvic instability and lower back pain during the pregnancy
A lot of pregnant women experience lower back pain. This is absolutely logical. You probably don’t think about it at first, but this has to do with the uterus. The uterus is attached to your tailbone and groin with tendons and tendons. If you so happen to experience a tugging sensation, then your growing baby is most likely the cause. The uterus is stretching out quite a lot, so you can imagine that the tendons will be put under a lot of pressure. The feeling of pain in the groin and lower back can also be triggered by a lot of solid belly’s.
There are a lot of other ways where you can experience pain in and around your pelvic girdle. Think of the increasing blood flow of the abdomen and the pelvic area. This can cause you to feel a heavy sensation in the lower abdomen or groin. Your organs, nerves or vessels in the pelvis can also become somewhat compressed because of the growth of the womb. These are all reasons to develop a heavy and sometimes painful sensation.
And lastly, are you looking for more information?
What to do with pelvic pain: if you experience pelvic pain during your pregnancy, then read here about what you can do.
Staying fit with pelvic instability: I have a lot of tips about staying fit with pelvic pain on my website.
Exercising with pelvic instability: There are a lot of handy exercises at the ready for you too! Look here.
Hopefully this information was useful to you! If you’re still looking for some more information, feel free to take another look around on the website. It’s filled with in-depth information, tips a webshop and also exercises. I still have a lot of articles with lots of information about other symptoms and issues. Feel free to click on the blue words to take you straight to the right page.
