Exercises to Decrease Pelvic Pain (A Pelvic Reset)

Pelvic pain is unfortunately fairly common in women, especially pregnant or recently pregnant women. But pelvic pain does not discriminate. Men and non-pregnant women can also suffer from pain in the pelvis or sacroiliac (S.I.) joint. There are many possible causes for pelvic pain, but S.I. pain in the non pregnant population is often due to a misalignment of the pelvic joint. This can be caused by muscle imbalances, ligamentous laxity (such as during pregnancy), improper positioning and movement patterns, acute injury or ligamentous sprains. Luckily, there is an easy exercise progression you can do at home to try and “reset” your pelvic alignment. Doing these exercises may help decrease your pelvic pain. 

A misalignment of the pelvis is one of the most common musculoskeletal causes of sacroiliac joint (S.I. joint) discomfort. It can be experienced at the front or back of the pelvic joints. Pelvic pain can be very painful and disruptive changing how you walk and move, which can affect more muscles and joints up and down the “chain”. So it is very important to correct a pelvic misalignment to decrease pelvic pain and to prevent further injury.

Exercises to Help Reset Your Pelvis & Decrease Pelvic PainExercises to help pelvic pain

These exercises below use your muscles to help pull your pelvis into a proper alignment. Most involve performing an isometric contraction which means squeezing your muscles without your body parts actually moving. Start with the first exercise and move through each one in the following order.

1. Isometric Hip Adduction: Exercise for pelvic pain

Place your hands on the outside of your knees. Press your knees outwards into your hands. Hold for a count of 6. Repeat 6 times.

2.Isometric Hip Abduction (pillow): Exercise for pelvic pain

Place a pillow between your knees when sitting or laying down with your knees bent. Squeeze your knees into the pillow. Hold for a count of 6 seconds. Repeat 6 times.

3. Isometric Hip Abduction (fist):Exercise for pelvic pain

Place a small ball or your fist between your knees. Again perform in a seated or laying down position. Squeeze the ball (or your fist). Hold for a count of 6. Repeat 6 times. You may hear or feel an audible “pop” or click with this exercise. This is a good thing because it means your bones are going back into alignment.

 

Stretches to Decrease Pelvic Pain

Stretching some of the muscles around your pelvis can also be helpful for reducing pain. Some of the commonly tight muscles are your hip adductors (the muscles on the inside of your thighs). Try these two stretches below for a good adductor stretch:

 

1. Butterfly stretch:

Exercise for Pelvic Pain- Moving Like a mother

Seated place your feet together with your knees flaring out. Hold 30 seconds and perform at least twice

 


2. Laying down butterfly stretch:

Same as above but lay down and perform it. Hold 30 seconds at least twice.

What next for pelvic pain?

The above exercises will aid in realigning your pelvis if you are suffering from misalignment and pelvic pain. There is also a muscle energy technique (MET) that can be used to aid in pulling your pelvis into a proper position but you would need to be appropriately evaluated by a physical therapist to determine the way in which your pelvis is rotated.

But ideally, these exercises will help to decrease your pelvic pain. However, the most important thing you can do to prevent pelvic pain or keep your pelvis from become misaligned again is to strengthen your pelvic stabilizers.

If you are looking for more higher intensity exercise moves to strengthen your inner thigh muscles to aid in pelvic stabilization be sure to try these 8 Moves For Your Inner Thighs

Activity modification and an S.I. belt can also aid in decreasing pelvic pain if you are suffering from pelvic instability. You can read much more on causes and treatment for pelvic pain on my post What causes pelvic pain.

If you have pelvic pain that doesn’t go away or you are pregnant you should always consult with the appropriate medical professionals. But give these exercises a try if you feel like your pelvis just needs a pause, a breath, and a reset.

Monica

Exercises for Pelvic Pain

What causes pelvic pain

Pelvic pain is a common occurrence in women, especially women who are or have been pregnant. But it’s not only pregnant women that suffer from this pelvic discomfort. It can also occur in women who haven’t had children and even men. But what causes pelvic pain? Pain felt in the pelvis region is multi-factoral and there are several reasons you may be experiencing discomfort in this area. Lets chat about the who, what, why and when of pelvic pain.

What does pelvic pain feel like:pelvic pain

We usually categorize pain as pelvic pain when it is felt below the belly button and between the hips. Common areas of pain include near the groin, around the low back/ buttocks region, near the pubic bone, and even felt as pain or pressure in our nether regions. Pelvic pain can be felt as a dull ache, pressure, pulling, or sharp sudden pain.

When does pelvic pain occur:why does pelvic pain occur

Pelvic pain in women most often occurs during pregnancy. To think we can lug around a bowling ball for 9 months and it not effect our pelvis is wishful thinking. But women can have pain in their pelvis after pregnancy, even several years later. Pelvic pain occurs when there is extra stress, a misalignment, or some type of muscle imbalance in our pelvic girdle often during or after pregnancy. But it can also occur in non pregnancy related ways from everyday activities that put your pelvis in poor alignment. For example, when men sit on their wallet in their back pocket it can throw their pelvis out of alignment. Surprise, men can have pelvic pain too.

Why does pelvic pain occur

Ah, the million dollar question. Why does pelvic pain occur? There are several causes for pelvic pain related to musculoskeletal imbalances or a misalignment of the pelvis. However, there can also be other medical causes for pain felt around the pelvis and if you have pelvic pain that doesn’t go away you should always consult your doctor. But lets chat about the common muscle and alignment reasons.

Pelvic pain explained:why pelvic pain occurs

Lets have a quick anatomy lesson. The pelvis is composed of two main bones, which you can think of as the “hip bones”. You have a one on the left and one on the right that are joined by the sacrum in the back and joined by your pubic symphysis in the front. Our pelvis is often referred to as the SI joint, or sacroiliac joint. A typical, healthy, pain free pelvis has symmetrical alignment where the two bones line up nicely and each rotate the appropriate amount as you bend over, flex your hip, or generally move about in life. However, sometimes the pelvis can become misaligned where one bone is rotated too far forward or backwards, or one is up too high. This is going to cause pain and pulling of the tissues, muscles, and ligaments that surround your pelvis.

Pregnancy and Pelvic Pain pregnancy and pelvic pain

Pregnancy is also a big contributor to pelvic pain. During pregnancy the hormone relaxin allows your ligaments and muscles to become more lax to allow room for the baby to grow. And as the baby grows it places extra stress and pressure on your pelvis and pelvic floor muscles. All of this together places your pelvis at increased risk for becoming misaligned.

Another cause of pelvic discomfort in pregnancy is pubic symphysis pain. Your two pelvic bones meet together in the middle and form a joint known as the pubic symphysis. It is located right in front of your bladder. I could write a whole additional blog post about pubic symphysis pain but just know that it can become very unstable, irritated, and contribute to pelvic pain during pregnancy.

Pelvic pain can also be related to problems with the muscles of your pelvic floor. Frequently after having a baby our pelvic floor muscles are too tight or too weak. If you feel you are having problems with your pelvic floor you should consult with your doctor and consider a referral for women’s health physical therapy for a complete assessment.

Pelvic pain vs. hip pain vs. back pain

An important fact to remember is the body is a chain. When one body part (or link) is not working properly another link up or down the chain will be effected. And our pelvis is part of our core which is the base of our body. Consequently, pelvic pain or misalignment can also cause pain in our hips and in our lower backs.

Treatment to help pelvic pain

Exercise:

Exercise for pelvic pain

Musculoskeletal imbalances, aka when the muscles surrounding a body part are not working in a balanced manner, is a common contributor to pelvic pain. Tightness of the hip adductors, tightness or weakness of the pelvic floor, weakness of the pelvic stabilizers, and core weakness are usually some of our first suspects when someone has pelvic pain. This can be rectified with strengthening and pelvic stabilization. Check out some quick and easy pelvic stabilization exercises here and basic core stabilization exercises here. Sometime a special muscle energy technique can be used to help “reset” our pelvis. Stay tuned for my next post this week that is all about exercises to help pelvic pain.

SI Belt:

As previously mentioned our pelvis is also referred to as our SI joint. And a very helpful product to provide external stability to our pelvis is an SI belt. An SI belt is useful when the muscles surrounding the pelvis are not yet strong enough and you are experiencing pelvic or back pain due to joint instability. They offer SI belts for both pregnant and non-pregnant people. I wore an SI belt for several weeks while I was pregnant with my son and it provided stability to allow a muscle strain in my lower back to heal.

Position or Activity Modification:

Sometimes pelvic pain is a result of an activity or position we are putting ourselves in everyday. For example activities that require you to stand on one leg (putting on pants, shoes, climbing into bed, etc) can increase your pelvic pain during pregnancy. Instead, try sitting down to put your pants on and off to reduce the stress place on your pelvis. 

wallet causing pelvic pain

As I previously mentioned, men often sit on their wallets which places their pelvis in a asymmetrical position. This will lead to tightness and pain in either their pelvis or low backs. Take note of where and how you are sitting and ensure that you are sitting with good symmetrical alignment in the car, on the couch, or in your desk chair.

So what’s next?

There are many possible contributors to musculoskeletal related pelvic pain. Pregnancy, muscle imbalances, and improper positioning are leading causes of pain. Later this week I will post some quick easy exercises to help “reset” your pelvis as well as stretches to aid in prevention of asymmetrical pulling. So be sure to come back and check it out.

-Monica