How is it that I asked Dr. Google dozens and dozens of times both during the last pregnancy and this one about a series of symptoms I was having and never found anything remotely resembling "round ligament pain"? But I signed up for some random weekly pregnancy newsletter a while back and just had this emailed to me. I simply can't bring myself to admit that Dr. Google, my long and trusted friend, has failed me.Using the correct phraseology, I get hundreds of hits: eMedicineHealth; Baby Center; American Pregnancy Association; and even WebMD, where I spend about half my online time, honing my skills until one day I become Fake Doctor Alice. But none of these sites came up a couple of days ago when I was desperately google-ing (or is it googling?) "pain pregnancy groin stabbing help help I want to die"?
I've never heard of this condition before and every mother that I asked about it looks at me like I'm not the brightest spark and says they never experienced it. From what all the articles say, it doesn't seem all that uncommon.
I guess not knowing anything about it before hasn't really affected me one way or another, because basically, I've gleaned the following treatment advice from all my reading:
- take some Tylenol (because my non-medical school degree-holding mind didn't think of that already)
- try to ignore it ("Why did you just collapse to the ground when you got up to go to the bathroom, Alice?" "Oh no reason.")
- take it easy (can you take it easier than not getting out of your chair for six hours?)
- sleep with your legs in a slightly bended position (um, does anyone not do that?)
- if it hurts when you do that, don't do that (now stop me if you've heard this one: a guy walks into a Doctor's office with a duck on his head...)
- it won't do you any good to complain about it; you are stuck with it until you deliver (maybe I'll complain a great deal and see if that will help, just in case)
I had this with The Dormouse, but it didn't really start until about month eight and got worse and worse as the pregnancy wore on. So having this now, in whatever-the-early-month I am, worries me. By my calculations, at month eight I'll be hanging upside down by my knees from the ceiling fan, screaming and wielding a broomstick at the men in white coats who've come to take me away.
Seriously, does anyone have any experience with this? I would much appreciate some recommendations other than "Here's some crap you already know".
Signed,
Desperate Enough to Ask the Interweb
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April 30, 2007 at 11:51 PM
You say round ligament pain, and then you describe shooting crotch pains, which in my experience are distinct phenomena. Round ligament pain is sharp and piercing, rarely lasts longer than a few seconds, and is almost always in the lower abdomen on the sides, general vicinity of the ovaries.
The "groin stabbing help help I want to die" pains are usually from intrapelvic muscles that get stretched in ways they aren't used to and don't like when your joints loosen up (and therefore related to the stabbing pain in the front of your crotch when your symphysis pubis loosens up). I've read that most women experience this loosening only in late pregnancy, but even with my first I was having these pains by mid-way through. The only thing that really seemed to help was limiting my time on my feet. Yoga was okay, walking 20 minutes to work was not.
I was talking to a friend recently, and her stabbing crotch pain got so bad that she opted for internal massage. The only way to reach these puppies when they're acting up is transvaginally. Hooray.
May 1, 2007 at 9:44 AM
You poor woman! When I had those pains with my first pregnancy (around 3 months I believe) I made my husband rush me to the hospital at 1AM. After two hours of waiting and a five minute exam they told me I had ligament pain! And there was nothing I could do! My husband was not very happy, but he did hear the heartbeat for the first time, so that was good. We didn't head back to the ER until two months later when I was suffering from intolerable gas pains. Anyway, I have been there, and am so sorry because the round ligament pains do indeed suck.
November 6, 2007 at 7:37 PM
So I'm not the only one! If we have the same thing, which I thought was some kind of invisible rash, I'm sorry I have not found any relief except for not walking more than 5 minutes. I had thought it was possibly "noodle" rash from exercising in the pool or some kind of skin disorder. Mine is much worse on the left side, my doctor prescribed a cortisone cream even though she could not see any skin irritation and that has not helped. Which makes sense if it's on the inside. It is so painful, I sometimes just have to drop to the ground and cry out!! Sometimes it's dull or nonexistent but when it is there it is excruciating. I will talk to my doctor next time I see her and blog again if she has any useful suggestions.