Sciatic Pregnancy | Is There Something You Can Do?
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.
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.
Some patients also rely on chiropractic care to relieve their sciatic pregnancy pain. Just keep in mind when seeing a chiropractor or a manual therapist to make sure they are experienced in working with pregnant 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.
If you start feeling the symptoms of pregnancy sciatica be sure consult your physician or back specialist about the kinds of treatments that are available to you in your special condition, because not every sciatica treatment is for every sciatica cause and especially during pregnancy you need to make a careful and educated choice of treatment with the help of professional therapists. Hot/Cold therapy could be applied; also bed rest would be beneficial for a couple of days, until the worst of the pain subsides. One of the main underlying causes for sciatica is poor posture. So paying close attention to maintaining correct posture will be very beneficial to relieve pain and the pressure on your disks.
Looking to find the best advice on sciatic pregnancy, then visit www.sciaticpregnancy.blogspot.com to find out more on sciatic pregnancy.
