Sciatic Pregnancy | Is There Something You Can Do?

By Christina Meier

Sciatic Pregnancy - what can you actually do to help yourself when your sciatic nerve gives you trouble during a time in your life that should be enjoyable and exciting? Pregnancy sciatica is not a condition in itself, but rather the symptoms of a combination of underlying causes, which manifest themselves when the sciatic nerve is being irritated. The sciatic nerve runs from the lower end of your spine, through your buttocks and thighs all the way to your feet. It gets inflamed when it receives too much pressure, be that from a herniated disk or a clenched muscle (as in piriformis syndrome) or a different underlying cause. The Symptoms range from a numb, tingly or burning sensation in your lower back, over achy and dull pain to shooting pain down your leg.

During their pregnancy women are more prone to experiencing injury to their disks. Since the location and position of the baby during the second and third trimesters puts it quite close to the area the sciatic nerve runs through. Pressure on the nerve usually heightens during that time and it's no surprise when an previously existing sciatica problem takes a turn for the worse; or that the added weight around the waist combined with the loosening up of ligaments and tendons in preparation for birth heighten the probability for a disk injury, which in turn puts pressure on the sciatic nerve.

In most of the cases sciatic pregnancy pain will disappear by itself, but it is possible for the process to take up to six weeks and over. For some patients it has been beneficial to plan routine visits with their physical therapist in order to get help to relieve their symptoms. In many cases manual therapy relieves the pressure and discomfort from the back pain you may experience during pregnancy.

To speak about some helpful sciatic pregnancy exercises, you also might go to your physical therapist. He/she could show you some exercises that would greatly benefit you with pain management, and would also help strengthen the abdominal and back muscles and the pelvic floor muscles. With those in better shape you might experience fewer difficulties during the birthing process and even during the recuperation time afterwards.

To relieve their sciatic pregnancy pain, some women also use chiropractic treatment. Only make sure, when seeing a manual therapist or chiropractor, that they have experience working with prenatal patients.

Many women find that massage therapy helps relieve inflammation and other symptoms caused by sciatica. Massages surely help to relieve muscle tension and tightness. When some muscle groups tense up to much (for example the piriformis muscle in your buttocks) they will probably contribute to sciatica. Massage therapy increases the blood flow in the tissue and such speeds the healing process by reducing inflammation and tension.

Should you develop pregnancy sciatica make sure you'll consult your doctor or physical therapist about what kinds of treatments are available to you, especially in your condition, since not every treatment for sciatica is for every cause of it and especially during pregnancy the choice of therapy needs to be made carefully with the help of knowledgeable professionals. Cold/Hot treatment may be applied, as may bed rest for some days, until the acute pain simmers down. Changes in posture may be greatly beneficial to alleviate pain and pressure on your discs since one of the main underlying causes of sciatica is poor posture. - 30525

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