This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure here.
In this post:
What’s the difference between hip pain and Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) in pregnancy?
When does hip pain start in pregnancy?
Why do you get pregnancy hip pain?
4 Ways to Help Pregnancy Hip Pain
Will my hips still hurt after pregnancy?
Pregnancy and various aches and pains can often go hand in hand. Many women not only tolerate, but expect to be uncomfortable during pregnancy.
If you’re wondering “Why do my hips hurt so bad during pregnancy?”, I’ve got good news! There are some things you can do to make you more comfortable.
Read on to learn 4 ways to get pregnancy hip pain relief!
Growing a baby is a big ask for your body, so it can be normal to experience some discomfort at times while your body grows and adapts.
But there’s a difference between some fleeting pains that only stay for a few minutes to hours, and debilitating hip pain during pregnancy.
Hip pain and pregnancy often go hand in hand, particularly at night.
When you’re pregnant and limited to only sleeping on your sides, your hips can really start to ache.
If you’re looking for evidence-based tips on how to sleep during pregnancy, you should also read this post.
I help women every day in my clinic experiencing all sorts of pregnancy pains.
This post is designed to help share the tips I give them with you, so you can finally get some relief.
Pregnancy Hip Pain- what is it?
Before we dive in too deep, it’s a good idea to outline exactly what we mean by “pregnancy hip pain”. This will make sure we’re all on the same page.
Many people think that their hips are a little higher up than they actually are. If I asked you to “stand with your hands on your hips”, you’d most likely put them on top of the bony parts at the sides of your pelvis, wouldn’t you? It’d look something like this:
The thing is, this isn’t actually where your hips are.
Your hips are actually located a fair bit lower than this.
The easiest way to find them is to find the point where your leg joins on to your pelvis when you’re sitting down. Then move your fingers out to the sides and around to the back at the same level.
When I talk about pregnancy hip pain, I mean pain anywhere around this area.
Pregnancy hip pain can be felt on one or both sides, and is often a tight, achey feeling.
Many women complain of feeling this at night in bed- the hip that they’re laying on will often start to ache.
This ends up in a constant cycle of tossing and turning all night, just trying to get comfortable.
Some women also experience pregnancy hip pain after being on their feet for a while.
Hip pain versus Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) in pregnancy:
Another common complaint during pregnancy is Pelvic Girdle Pain, or “PGP”. This is when you feel pain anywhere within the ring of the pelvis, either at the back or the front.
This post is specifically aimed at helping women suffering pregnancy hip pain.
If you’d like to work out if what you’re experiencing is actually PGP, you can read my post titled 3 Tests to know if you have Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP). This super-informative article outlines the exact tests I use with pregnant women in my clinic to help diagnose their pain.
Once you know exactly what your condition is, you’ll be better placed to specifically treat that complaint. You could then use some of the methods outlined in 5 ways to help your pelvic pain during pregnancy at home.
If you’re still a little unsure if what you’re suffering is pregnancy hip pain, or pelvic girdle pain, have a look at the graphic below.
The site of your pain may help you figure it out.
When does hip pain start in pregnancy?
Unfortunately for some women, hip pain can begin very early in pregnancy.
Despite the fact that your baby is only teeny tiny, your body starts making adjustments to how things are aligned from day 1.
This is to allow for more room for the baby, which is only going to get bigger by the day.
So, for some women, they can experience hip pain from the very early weeks of pregnancy.
For most women, however, hip pain usually only becomes a problem from around 18 weeks or so onwards.
Why do you get pregnancy hip pain?
Almost daily in clinic I have women asking me- “why do my hips hurt during pregnancy”?
The most likely reason why women experience this is because of a change in pelvic region mechanics.
Outlined below are 5 of the major reasons why you may be suffering from pregnancy hip pain.
#1: Your weight increases
Perhaps the most obvious reason, especially towards the end of your pregnancy, is that you’re often carrying more weight than you usually would.
The weight of the growing baby, fluid retention, heavier breasts etc all often increase your body weight.
This puts an increased load on your joints and muscles, and their response is often to cause you pain.
#2: Your pelvis changes
Towards the end of the first trimester, your pelvis begins to tip forwards.
This means that the curve in your lower back gets larger, and there is more strain put through the front of the hip joint.
Studies have shown that pregnant women’s hips don’t flex or extend as much as they do when women aren’t pregnant.
This can lead to stiffness and a lack of stretching through the local muscles, which can also result in pain.
#3: Your hormones change
Hormones such as relaxin also mean that there is more freedom of movement in your joints.
This can have a big effect on joints such as the hip and ankle as they bear your heavier-than-usual weight.
Because your joints are able to move around more freely, your muscles have to work overtime to try to hold everything together.
Sometimes they’re able to do this for a little while without them complaining, but often they’ll start to hurt after a while.
#4: The way you walk changes
As your pregnancy progresses, you’ll also notice that your feet are usually further apart than they’d normally be when you walk.
They’ll also likely turn outwards.
Most of you would be familiar with the classic “waddle” that heavily pregnant women can have- you may even be doing it yourself these days!
There’s an anatomical reason for this, it’s definitely not something that women consciously choose to do.
As a result, muscles in your hip and pelvic region, as well as your calves, tend to work overtime.
This can cause pregnancy hip pain, as well as leg cramps.
All in all, there are quite a few reasons why your hips are working differently when you’re pregnant.
This altered load can mean that many women suffer pregnancy hip pain.
#5: You’re sleeping only on your sides
We’ve known for a while now that the safest way to sleep during pregnancy is to lay on your sides.
This ensures proper blood flow to both you and your baby.
The problem with laying only on your sides, is that it tends to compress and aggravate the same structures repeatedly.
Some muscles are overstretched, and structures such as the bursa in your hips can become compressed.
This can lead to a lot of tightness, burning pain and aching, leaving you in constant search for a comfortable position and a good night’s sleep.
What causes pregnancy hip pain?
There are a few possible reasons why you might be experiencing hip pain, despite only being a few weeks pregnant.
Pregnancy hip pain cause #1: Your pelvis changes
Your body starts making adjustments to create space for your baby from very early on.
As your uterus starts to grow and expand, it pushes on your bowel and bladder (hello multiple trips to the bathroom!).
This causes your pelvis to posteriorly rotate, and can also be a cause of lower back pain in early pregnancy.
This shift in your pelvis can put additional strain on your hips, which can leave them feeling stiff, tight or achey.
Pregnancy hip pain cause #2: Your musculoskeletal history
You may have previously had some underlying musculoskeletal issues in your hips or pelvis, which the weight, postural or fluid changes that occur even in early pregnancy can aggravate.
Have you had a previous lower back, hip or knee injury?
This may be easily re-aggravated during these early weeks.
Pregnancy Hip Pain Relief: 4 ways to help
The good news is that there’s a few simple strategies you can try to help manage your pregnancy hip pain. Some (like #1) aren’t exactly fun, but they’re certainly helpful. Give them a try, and see how they work for you!
Pregnancy hip pain relief #1: A spiky ball
Using a spiky ball like this one can help relieve pain and tension in your buttock muscles. This can in turn lead to decreased pain in your hips while you’re sleeping.
I’m going to be honest here and say that you’re probably going to hate both me and the ball while you’re using it, because IT HURTS!
Buuuut, I can almost guarantee that you’ll feel better afterwards, and that your hips will thank me later.
You can try to use the ball by leaning into it against a wall. If you use it like this, you could either stand with your back to the wall, or side on to the wall.
Alternatively, you can lay on your back or even partly on your side.
Whichever way you use the spiky ball, though, you want to position it so it’s in the fleshy part of your buttock muscles, just behind the bony part on the outside of your hip.
You can either stand or lay in one position for anywhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes, or you can move around in small circles.
You’ll know when you’ve hit the right spot, because it’s usually pretty tender.
Take some deep breaths and go with it, and you’ll soon start to feel the pain easing a little.
It’s a good idea to perform this on both sides.
I often recommend to the ladies experiencing pregnancy hip pain who come into my clinic that they perform this before going to bed.
As much as they dislike doing it, the majority find it to be incredibly helpful in relieving their symptoms.
Pregnancy hip pain relief #2: Use extra pillows while sleeping
One of the most common questions I hear from my pregnant patients is “how can I sleep with hip pain during pregnancy?”
Hip pain at night during pregnancy is super common.
Pillows can be used to give your body some additional support if you’re experiencing pregnancy hip pain while sleeping.
There’s a few ways you can use these.
If you’re sticking with traditional pillows, you’re best to have a least 3 to sleep with.
We’ve already discussed that you should be sleeping on your sides while pregnant.
Pillow wise, you’ll need one under your head, one under your belly, and one in between your knees.
Towards the end of your pregnancy, you may even find it more comfortable to have either two pillows between your knees, or one single one that is folded over.
Sleeping with this additional pillow support helps keep everything in good alignment, and minimise the strain of carrying extra weight and being limited to only sleeping on your sides.
Alternatively, you could get yourself a pregnancy pillow. I’ve written a great post that goes into detail on how to choose the best one for you here.
There are so many to choose from, but my top pick would have to be this one for its relatively compact design yet full support.
The women who attend my clinic for help with their pregnancy hip pain often rave about their pregnancy pillows.
I’ve heard many stories of jealous partners who only half-jokingly feel that their pregnant partners love their pregnancy pillows more than they love them!
Pregnancy hip pain relief #3: Compression shorts or leggings
Compression tights like these can help give your overworked muscles some extra support.
The amazing technology that goes into these garments mean that compression is maintained with continual washing and wearing.
Once you try these out, you’ll understand how important this is- because they’ll definitely be on high wash and wear rotation!
As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.
There are certainly some cheaper brands of compression tights out there, but the women who come to my clinic can never talk highly enough of their SRC shorts.
But don’t just take my word for it.
This survey quizzed 73 pregnant women who were experiencing pregnancy-related pains.
They wore SRC shorts or tights, and 85% stated that the garments helped reduce their discomfort.
99% of wearers stated that they would recommend them to other expectant mothers.
Pretty convincing stuff, hey?
As an added bonus, if you’re an Australian reader and have your Private Health Insurance with Medibank, you’ll be eligible for a rebate on the purchase price of your shorts.
If you’ve had anything to do with these insurers in the past, you’ll know that they don’t give out rebates lightly.
The insurers must be certain that these garments will provide some scientifically-proven relief.
Why not give them a try for yourself?
Pregnancy hip pain relief #4: Stretch out your gluteal muscles
The gluteal muscles are overworked and tight in many cases of pregnancy hip pain.
Learning how to stretch them, especially before bed, can help you be more comfortable.
To learn the easiest way to stretch them, watch the clip below. You’ll thank me later!
How to get pregnancy hip pain relief while sleeping:
As we’ve discussed, hip pain whilst *trying to sleep* affects many pregnant women.
Being limited to sleeping on your sides from around 20 weeks really doesn’t help any hip pain you may be having.
Using the strategies outline above can be really helpful, and will give you the best possible chance of getting a good night’s sleep.
If your hips hurt when sleeping during pregnancy, check out this post.
Will my hips still hurt after pregnancy?
In the case of hip pain, it’s most likely that you’ll get good relief fairly soon after your baby is born.
Most women lose around 10kgs in the days following birth, purely from the baby, tissues and extra fluids being delivered. This takes a lot of strain off the area, and can help bring about almost immediate relief.
You’re also free to sleep in (almost) any position you choose. You’re not longer restricted to sleeping only on your sides, so you’re not laying on your hips for 8 or so hours a night.
Even in cases of Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP), 2 out of 3 women will experience significant relief or symptom resolution shortly after giving birth.
Cases of PGP that do not resolve shortly after delivery are known as Persistent Pelvic Girdle Pain (PPGP). You can learn more about this here.
Wrapping Up:
Pregnancy hip pain is an incredibly common, often uncomfortable but quite manageable condition.
Learning self-mangagement techniques such as using a spiky ball, wearing compression shorts, stretching out your gluts before bed and sleeping with a pregnancy pillow can all be effective management strategies.
Have you given any of these tips a try?
I’d love to hear how they worked for you. Leave me a comment below!
