
Written by Editorial Team
Pregnancy is that phase in a woman’s life that is characterized by a lot of difficulties and pain for some while smoother for others. Headaches, nausea, morning sickness, aversions, cravings, weepiness, irritability, are a few of them. But the most common of them all and the most disturbing is sciatic pain. During pregnancy, the sciatic nerve gets affected due to changes in the body size and shape, and the uterus puts additional pressure on it, making the situation worsen.
Let us know to get a better insight about sciatica pain, its causes, the conditions under which it worsens, how to get relief from the pain, how to put a stop to it if it happens at night.
In This Article
Sciatica is even referred to as a lumbosacral radicular syndrome. This happens as a result of the irritation that happens in the sciatic nerve. It is a nerve that initiates in the lower portion of the spine and goes to the thighs. This can even lead to pains in the hips and also thighs. Sciatic pain is characterized by acute or prickly back pain, pain that initiates from the hips and moves down to the back portion of the legs. It can also be intense, pricking, and numbing pain that eases out with a proper cure.
Bulging or issues with the lumbar spine results in sciatic pain. This can also be the result of changes in the bone structure, narrowing of the spine, rupturing of the disc, or an ailment related to the spine, all such situations, stress on the sciatic nerve results in acute back pain which is very common for most of the pregnant ladies.
Sciatic pain also happens due to a few reasons below as well:
All this is the result of the increase in Relaxin, which is a pregnancy hormone that tends the ligaments to stretch and loosen in the pelvic structure. The additional baby weight also makes it more painful as it puts pressure on the hips and the pelvis and the sciatic nerve.
Sciatica is not a very common one, but the ones who experience it, describe it as a very intense one. Its symptoms consist of the following:
Sciatica is an acute pain that exudes from the hips to the rear side of the leg. The sciatica is supposed to disappear as soon as one delivers the baby. But in some instances, it may continue to appear during the initial days after delivery and then eventually vanishes.
Sciatic nerve pain can be painful even though it is not very common, but et very acute when it happens.
This pain can be treated by the following methods as below:
One can even try the following five exercises to alleviate discomfort and pain:
One can relieve the muscle tightness with this stretch and can help to reduce sciatic pain. Follow the steps below to do this stretch:
This stretch helps the back muscles, hips, and the rear portion of the legs.
One can get relief from the sciatic pain from this famous pose of yoga, so following the steps below will help the pregnant woman.
Hip flexors are those muscles that lie in the front portion of the hips and help with the movement of the leg while walking or jumping. Having tight hip flexors at the time of pregnancy can affect the posture, the pelvic arrangement, etc., which results in pain.
Following are the steps to do this stretch
This stretch uses a foam roller that is helpful in massaging the muscles. It even helps to offer relaxation to the tight muscles that can increase pain later.
Follow the steps below:
Sciatica pain is very painful and gets swollen after the disc gets degenerated, and it becomes worse if one is trying to sit for a longer duration as while sitting the disc gets pressurized due to the posture, and it is better if one stands. The Sciatica gets worsened if one is lifting heavy weights and too much coughing also tends to worsen it further.
Sciatica is not a permanent pain and subsides with time, it can reduce with the help of medications as well, but if the pain occurs at night, then the following steps should be taken.
Thus, during pregnancy, sciatic pain is quite a pain and can be enhanced by stretching exercises and by keeping a few tips in mind while sitting and standing as discussed above. The exercises also happen to reduce the tensed muscles and enhance the hip, leg and lower back movement. This pain worsens if one stands for longer hours, so it is advisable to keep switching from one position to the other. If the pain worsens, all activities should be stopped immediately, and medical help should be sought if one feels headaches, dizziness or bleeding while exercising.
Yes! In order to alleviate sciatic pain, walking is the best type of exercise. In addition to relieving pain, walking also lowers inflammation. But, you should also be mindful that bad posture when walking might worsen sciatica.
A professional massage is safe to obtain while pregnant, and it may do wonders for sciatica. These will work to release tension in your lower back, glutes, and legs. Moreover, chiropractic massage has been shown to be an effective treatment for pregnancy-related sciatica.
You may get sciatica at any time throughout your pregnancy, but the pain is most common in the third trimester. The extra weight your baby gains poses a risk to its already weak muscles and joints. The baby’s position that put pressure on the sciatic nerve can be another reason.
With a rich experience in pregnancy and parenting, our team of experts create insightful, well-curated, and easy-to-read content for our to-be-parents and parents at all stages of parenting.Read more.
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