Sciatic Pregnancy | What Are Your Options?

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.

Now since the baby’s location is very close to where the nerve runs through and may put pressure on the nerve or on tissue surrounding the nerve, it is not surprising that a previously existing sciatica problem may dramatically worsen during pregnancy; or that the extra weight around the middle along with the loosening of tendons and ligaments in preparation for birth may make way for an injury to a disk, which then in turn puts pressure on the nerve. Women who are pregnant are more likely to experience disc injury.

Sciatic pregnancy pain often disappears by itself, but in some cases that may take over six weeks. Some patients have found it helpful to schedule regular visits with their physical therapist, to get some relief from their sciatica symptoms. Manual therapy often helps relieve the pressure and discomfort you might experience from the back pain 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.

When relying on chiropractic care or manual therapy for the relief of your sciatic pregnancy pain, make sure that they are experienced in working with prenatal patients.

To reduce inflammation and other sciatica symptoms many women have found massage therapy to be very helpful, since it greatly relieves muscle tension and tightness. When certain muscle groups tense up too much (like for example the piriformis muscle in your buttocks) they will probably add to your sciatica pain. Massages reduce tension and inflammation and therefore help to increase circulation and speed up the healing process.

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.

Learn more about sciatic pregnancy. Stop by Christina Meier’s site where you can find out all about sciatic pregnancy and how to get some help.