Do you have an positioning advice for pregnant woman who are having pelvic pain and/or lateral hip pain at night?
Answer
Some women have significant hip pain when they are sleeping and cannot tolerate being on one side all night long. We may want to teach her how to use the semi-side-lying sleep position. This is the same position that we need to teach if we are concerned that she might have supine hypotensive syndrome. Supine hypotensive syndrome, just to remind you, is when the pregnant uterus compresses the vena cava and leads to a reduction in cardiac output. During our examination and in these resting positions, all we have to do is place a pillow under the right side of the body and tilt that uterus off of the vena cava just a little bit. Then it will restore the blood flow and allow cardiac output to the return to normal. To sleep in this position, we do the same thing. We put a pillow under the right side of the body, but then what we might also do is put a couple of pillows under the knees. Then the patient is in a semi-supine or a semi-side-lying sleep position. This can be a great relief for women who are having hip pain, lateral hip pain, low back pain, and pelvic girdle pain during their pregnancy that is interrupting their sleep.
Dr. Neville is a board-certified Women’s’ Health Clinical Specialist (WCS) and President of her consulting and education firm, Neville Know-How, Inc. She is currently providing clinical patient care as a pelvic health physical therapist and is an Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. A highlight of her career was developing the first credentialled Women’s Health Physical Therapy Residency Program in the state of Florida at Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville. She has published several peer-reviewed research articles and textbook chapters. She has been practicing and teaching pelvic health physical therapy courses for over 30 years.
Related Courses
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Editor's Note: Regarding Pennsylvania credits, this course is approved by the PA State Board of Physical Therapy for 1 hour of general and 1 hour of Direct Access CE credit.
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'she was extremely knowledgeable and able to communicate that knowledge to us in a way that we could capture the essence of the practice of it'Read Reviews
MRI studies show that with the performance of correct pelvic floor muscle contraction, the coccyx should move cranially, and with adequate pelvic floor muscle relaxation, the coccyx should move causally. This course examines the importance of the coccyx to the function of the pelvic floor muscles, discusses how coccyx impairments may contribute to pelvic floor muscle disorders, and explore physical therapy treatment options for coccyx impairments. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.
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This basic course will introduce clinicians to the physical therapy treatment of constipation. Participants will gain skill and knowledge in simple interventions to improve bowel evacuation that they will be able to apply immediately in the clinic. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.
Editor's Note: Regarding Pennsylvania credits, this course is approved by the PA State Board of Physical Therapy for 1 hour of general and 1 hour of Direct Access CE credit.
