Cant find a private practitioner in your area?

You can try your local sports injury clinic where you can ask to speak to a sports physiotherapist, who ideally specialises in pelvic joint problems, to discuss whether they have relevant experience. They do not have to have specific experience of treating pregnant women. It is most important that they are confident at manually treating the pelvic joints and getting their patients back to playing sport and doing all the normal activities of daily life, rather than just coping with pain and avoiding normal activities. To find a manual or sports physiotherapist in your area visit the Physio First website.You can contact your local osteopath or chiropractor – again, check that they have experience in treating pelvic joint problems. You may find these websites helpful: General Osteopathic Council, British Chiropractic Association and McTimoney Chiropractic Association.

What to expect and check if you are looking for someone to treat your PGP effectively

Here are some questions about what to ask if you call a manual therapist before you go for a consultation:

• What will you do if I come to see you for my PGP? (You should expect to be asked to undress to your underwear for an assessment and a diagnosis before any treatment starts).
• Do you treat people with PGP regularly and how many people with PGP have you seen over the last three years?
• How do you treat it?
• How soon would you expect to see some improvement, even a little bit

What you should expect from the discussion you have on the phone with a manual therapist ahead of going to see them:

• You should be told that the manual therapist intends to examine you, looking for symmetry of movement at the sacroiliac joints and the position of your Symphysis pubis (i.e. not looking for pain at that stage).
• They should explain what they have found during the assessment and why you have pain
• They should explain what they are going to do about the pain and how they are going to physically treat you to make you better.
• They should carry out the treatment.
• Expect to receive manual treatment not just a list of exercises – exercises tend to work best once you have had some manual therapy and the pain has improved.
• Manual treatment involves mobilising stiff or ‘stuck’ joints and gently moving your limbs and joints to help realign the pelvis if it is moving asymmetrically.

Please see our ‘What to expect from treatment’ page for more information.