Cupping guides
Pelvic pain: where does it hurt and what it can be – SI joint, pubic bone, pelvic floor, hip, tailbone, groin, gluteal muscles – in pregnancy, athletes and everyone else, when to seek care, and what helps: stability, exercises and cupping
The pelvis is the body's hub: the spine rests on it, the legs hang from it, and between the bones sit two SI joints at the back, the pubic symphysis at the front and a floor of muscles. Pelvic pain can therefore come from a joint that moves too much or too little, from a tendon attachment, from pelvic floor muscles that are too tight or too weak, from the hip joint, from the tailbone or from the organs inside. Here is the map: where it hurts (at the back by the sacrum, at the front by the pubic bone, deep in the buttock, at the very bottom, in the groin, in the genital area) and what it usually means, what is common in pregnancy (pelvic girdle pain), in runners and footballers (the pubic attachment, the hip, the hamstring attachment), in people who sit a lot (SI joint, tailbone, tight pelvic floor) and after childbirth, which signs mean you should seek care (fever, bleeding, difficulty urinating, numbness, pain after a fall), what the doctor and physiotherapist do, and what helps: stability before stretching, stronger glutes and core, pelvic floor training or relaxation depending on the problem, sitting habits, and cupping of glutes, lower back and thighs around the pelvis.
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Back pain in pregnancy: why it hurts (lower back, pelvis and pelvic girdle pain, sciatica, upper back), which kind of pain you have, when to contact your midwife, and what helps: exercises, sleeping position, everyday tricks, belt and gentle cupping
Two in three pregnant women get back pain, usually from mid-pregnancy, and many get it already in the first trimester when hormones soften the ligaments. The pain sits in two places that are often confused: in the lower back (above the pelvis, dull, worse with standing and bending forward) and in the pelvis (below the belt line, over the sacrum, in the groins or at the pubic bone, worse with turning in bed, stairs and standing on one leg: pelvic girdle pain). Add sciatica radiating down the leg, and upper back pain from heavier breasts and changed posture. Almost all of it is harmless and passes after birth, but there is a lot you can do in the meantime. Here is how to tell the types apart, the warning signs that mean midwife or emergency (regular pain coming and going in waves before week 37, bleeding, fever, difficulty urinating, numbness in the genital area), and what helps: daily exercises for pelvis, back and glutes, sleeping position with a pillow between the knees, a pelvic belt, everyday tricks for getting up and turning over, heat, a physiotherapist, and gentle cupping of lower back and glutes that many pregnant women benefit greatly from, with the rules that apply.
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