Sciatic Pregnancy | What Can You Do To Help Yourself?
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 many cases sciatic pregnancy pain disappears on its own, but sometimes the process may take as many as six weeks or even more. Some patients schedule routine visits with their physical therapist to help them to relieve some of the symptoms. Often manual therapy helps relieve discomfort and pressure from back pain during pregnancy.
Your physical therapist might also be a good person to talk to in order to find you some suitable sciatic pregnancy exercises, that would be beneficial in your pain management and would also strengthen your back and abdominal muscles and the muscles of the pelvic floor. If these muscle groups are in good condition you may experience less difficulty during the birthing process and even during recuperation 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.
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