Reduce Painful Groins with a Prenatal Massage
If you are faced with painful groins during pregnancy, you aren’t alone. Studies have shown that up to 80 percent of women experience painful groins at some point during their pregnancy. Also known as pelvic pain, it can range from minor aches to very serious complications that can last several days.
Symptoms of painful groins
Although the most common symptoms include pain in the groin and pubic area, you may also experience other related discomforts that signal pelvic girdle pain. Each of these can show up alone or together, and they often worsen as the baby grows and pelvic alignment shifts.
Hip & back pain
Pain in your hips and at the back of your pelvis, commonly worsening as your bump grows and your posture changes. Often radiates into the lower back as the day progresses.
Pain between the legs
Pain between your legs or down the inside of your thighs, especially when standing for long periods, climbing stairs, or shifting position in bed.
Clicking sensation
A clicking feeling around your pubic area. This is the symphysis pubis joint loosening because of hormones. You can hear it, and sometimes people near you can too.
Worse at night
Pain that gets worse at night when you’re trying to sleep, particularly when rolling over or finding a comfortable side-lying position. A body pillow between the knees often helps.
Movement triggers
Pain while walking, parting your legs (getting in and out of a car, for example), or moving around the bed. Squatting, twisting, and lifting can all aggravate the joint.
Bladder & bowel pressure
A heaviness or pressure low in the pelvis, sometimes alongside changes in bladder or bowel rhythm as the baby’s head sinks lower into the pelvic basin in late pregnancy.
Up to 80 percent of women experience painful groins during pregnancy. You’re far from alone, and the symptoms are manageable.
What causes painful groins, and who is most at risk?
During pregnancy, your baby’s head is likely to go deeper into your pelvic area and press hard against your hip, bladder, and pelvis, putting stress on your joints, bones, and pelvic muscles. Your body has to adapt very fast, helped by relaxin, the hormone that loosens ligaments for delivery. If your body cannot adapt fast enough, you get painful groins.
You are more likely to suffer from painful groins if you have a history of pelvic girdle pain in a previous pregnancy, a prior pelvic injury, work in a physically demanding job (carrying, lifting, long hours on your feet), or are experiencing significant emotional stress or chronic sleep deprivation. Smokers are also slightly more affected on average. Since the condition can turn serious if untreated, get an early diagnosis to avoid long-term discomfort, tell your obstetrician at the first sign of pain and ask for a physiotherapy referral if needed.
Relief through prenatal massage
If you’ve ever had a professional massage, then you know that both your mind and body respond to it: you relax, stress hormones drop, blood flow improves and tight muscles soften. A prenatal massage from a trained therapist is made specifically for how your body works in pregnancy. Lying on your side takes weight off the painful joint, oils are checked to make sure they are safe for mums-to-be, and pressure points known to be unsafe in pregnancy are avoided.
For painful groins specifically, prenatal massage helps in three ways. First, it relaxes the nearby hip and lower-back muscles, which work harder to make up for the unstable pelvic joint. This eases the dull ache that builds through the day. Second, it improves blood flow to ligaments and joints, which helps your body adapt naturally. Third, the deep relaxation from the massage lowers stress hormones, and these hormones make pain feel worse. While you may not completely get rid of the pain until the baby is born, regular massage can ease the symptoms a lot. Most mums book weekly or fortnightly through the third trimester.