Everyone knows that pain you get during pregnancy. It’s called round ligament pain, and it happens to many pregnant women.
However, is it possible to experience round ligament pain not pregnant? The short answer is yes, it can occur after pregnancy.
Pregnancy pains can last for a while after giving birth, and round ligament pain is one of those things that can still happen even after delivery. In fact, you can even have round ligament pain if you are not pregnant at all or never have been pregnant. While it is painful, it’s usually no cause for concern whatsoever.
Your Body Changes
It’s no surprise that while you are pregnant, your body changes a whole lot. As your baby grows, so does your uterus and womb.
This can cause a lot of random aches and pains. One of these aches and pains is called round ligament pain. Basically, when you are pregnant, you get round ligament pain because the womb is stretching those front muscles as it grows up from your groin.
Because it’s a rapid change in your body, it can cause your muscles to be sore.
Round ligament pain can feel like a dull throbbing sensation, a soreness, or even a sharp stabbing pain. This all depends on how fast your body is growing and changing throughout pregnancy.
Sometimes, this pain is one of the first things you notice when your body is changing during pregnancy. It often causes you to be alarmed, and many women bring it up to their healthcare provider because it is such a strange sensation.
However, once you know what it is, you can usually tell when it’s something serious and when it is just round ligament pain.
Round Ligament Pain in Others
Most pregnant women will never forget what round ligament pain feels like. It can happen all throughout the pregnancy, but what if you are not pregnant and still experiencing it?
Some women experience this after labor and delivery, and it’s a fairly normal postpartum feeling. While it may not happen to the majority of women, round ligament pain after giving birth is nothing to be concerned about. But, sometimes the pain lasts even longer than that.
If you are far past your postpartum time period and still experiencing round ligament pain, it’s usually not a cause for concern. Lots of people, pregnant and not pregnant, experience round ligament pain every day. The plus side in this situation is that you could use CBD, as this can be used to treat pain. It is not recommended to use it whilst pregnant or breastfeeding, but if you are long past your postpartum time period and no longer breastfeeding, you might find some CBD gummies are a useful way to manage your round ligament pain. You may get prescribed pain medications from an online pharmacy as well.
Because it is a muscle, you could be getting sore or pain from overworking it. This might come as a surprise if you haven’t been working out or doing anything different in your routine. The reality is that there are a lot of things you could be doing that could cause round ligament pain.
Sometimes, this is because your core hasn’t been strengthened after giving birth. Your abdominal muscles stretch and expand while pregnant, and they don’t always go back to the way they were before you were pregnant. Having a strong core could prevent the round ligament pain that you are feeling. Doing core exercises could help you to get rid of the pain completely.
How to Help
As I mentioned, you could try working on your core to strengthen the muscles in that area in hopes to get rid of the round ligament pain. Gentle core exercises like bridges and heel slides can help to strengthen those deep abdominal muscles that may have separated during pregnancy and birth.
Here is a video that will help you with your round ligament pain. It’s very gentle stretches that can help the pain from getting worse or coming back again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2JKjtaKe2w
If you are noticing that the round ligament pain comes whenever you are doing something that requires core work, like holding your baby or going from lying to standing, you could suffer from a weakened core.
Another thing that can help the round ligament pain is if you use a heating pad. When the pain in your round ligaments continues into a throbbing, a heating pad can be helpful in reducing the pain that you are feeling. Lying down with the heating pad on the area that hurts can be a great way to relax the muscle and stop the pain.
It’s always important to check with your healthcare provider whenever you are experiencing a pain that doesn’t seem regular or normal. Your healthcare provider can tell you whether or not taking over the counter pain medication, like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, could help your pain go away.
All in All
It’s not unusual to experience some aches and pains even when you are no longer pregnant. Your body just went through a huge transition over nine months, so it can take some time for everything to go back to normal! If you are experiencing pain over a long period of time, it’s always wise to check in with your healthcare provider. But when experiencing round ligament pain not pregnant occurs, it’s often not a cause for alarm. Have anything to add? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
1 comment
Thank you, thank you,thank you! Finally found information on this. My last pregnancy was 2.5 years ago and I still get round ligament pain every month. I had two c sections and was concerned I might have the scar tissue endometriosis but maybe it really is just my core! It happens when I cough, get up too fast or roll over in bed. I’ve started working out for the last 8 months and I find it seems better when I’m working out. I appreciate you posting this because I felt so alone!