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Hip pain is a common and uncomfortable complaint of later pregnancy. Many women will experience hip pain during pregnancy, particularly during their last trimester. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of research available that talks about hip pain during pregnancy. Much of what is written on hip pain focuses on back pain or pelvic pain.

Fortunately we can provide you a bit of helpful information about treating and coping with painful hips during pregnancy.

Causes of Hip Pain During Pregnancy

During pregnancy our bodies release hormones that help relax and soften the joints and muscles. This happens to help prepare your body for labor and delivery. Believe it or not release of such hormones occurs as early as the first trimester. Typically the release of hormones into the body however doesn't affect most women until they are further along in their pregnancy.

As your body and uterus continues to expand and grow, your posture may become more awkward. Your muscles and ligaments respond differently to the presence of relaxin in the body. Relaxin in the body helps the pelvis move around more easily in preparation for birth. Unfortunately it may also increase your susceptibility to injury and also result in some hip pain during pregnancy.

Treating Hip Pain During Pregnancy

Fortunately there are some simple steps you can follow to help reduce hip pain. Many women experience hip pain while sleeping. This is typically the result of poor posture or lack of support in the joints surrounding the pelvis during sleep. You can usually relieve this by using a full body support pillow between the legs and under the abdomen while sleeping.

Other women find using a pillow behind their back helpful during pregnancy. You may find you need to sleep in a semi reclined position rather than on one hip or the other to reduce hip pain during pregnancy.

There are many activities that can aggravate hip pain. These may include certain exercises or excessive walking and bending. If this is the case you may need to consult a physical therapist for exercises that are safe, supportive and appropriate during pregnancy. While most doctors recommend walking to keep in shape during pregnancy, for women with hip pain this may be a problem. A certified chiropractor may provide some much needed relief in these cases. Your hip pain may result from an uneven pelvis that can be easily corrected with some gentle manipulation during pregnancy.

Chiropractic care can also relieve many of the other discomforts of pregnancy including headaches and back pain. If you seek the assistance of a chiropractor, try to find someone that is experienced working with pregnant patients. You might consider asking your doctor or healthcare provider for a referral.

Still other women find massage very helpful for relieving hip pain during pregnancy. Therapeutic massage is much more beneficial than the simple relaxation massage you may find in a spa setting. Ask around again to find a therapeutic massage therapist who is experienced working with pregnant women. Many actually work out of licensed chiropractors offices, and generally charge much less than the average spa massage you might otherwise indulge in.

Still other women find yoga and pilates helpful for relieving back and hip pain during pregnancy. If you find your pain is extreme look for a prenatal pilates or yoga class and ask the instructor what positions may help stretch and align the hips and pelvis to help relieve your pain. As with anything you'll want to be sure to gradually ease into any program and take your time. The goal of any therapeutic intervention should be to relieve not increase the hip pain you experience!

Ibuprofen during Pregnancy

One thing that almost all doctors agree on: do NOT take ibuprofen in the third trimester of your pregnancy, particularly after about 32 weeks. The reason for this is that as your due date nears, drugs like ibuprofen (NSAIDs) may cause premature closure of a major blood vessel near the baby's heart called the ductus arteriosus. If this happens before your baby is born (and breathing air), it will probably die.

Before 32 weeks, things are a bit more controversial.

A lot of doctors would probably advise against taking ibuprofen early in pregnancy (during the first 8 weeks or so), simply because we know that that that is when your baby's organs are being formed and ibuprofen has never been scientifically proven to be safe at that time. (It may or may not be. We really don't yet know for sure.)

Between those two time periods (i.e. approximately 8 and 32 weeks gestation), a lot of us think that occasional ibuprofen use is reasonably safe, at least if it is used only in small doses (say, 200 to 400 mg, maybe even 600 mg once or twice) and only for limited amounts of time.

taking tylenol when pregnant

If you have pain during pregnancy, you may take Tylenol or acetaminophen up to 2 tablets or 650 mg every 4 hours. Do not ta

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