Any advice for sciatica in pregnancy?

[oneontheway]

I am 6.5 mo. pregnant with my third. My first pregnancy was fine, the second I had issues with Sciatica and this time I've been watching my weight gain and working out to help prevent it but its not working. I think it gets triggered by a knot in my lower back and then goes down my hip/leg. When it hits it such a sharp pain that I scream (involuntarily). Then other times its fine. I've been going to the chiropractor and getting 1/2 hour massages here and there. Any other suggestions? I've still got three months to go and fear I won't be able to walk some days.

[Smillow]

Well, I was going to suggest a chiropracter - in my 8th month I was almost unable to walk - turns out my pelvis was out of alignment - the chiro did 1 adjustment (I was traveling at the time) and it felt worse for about 24 hours & then it was all better! I realized after the fact that my pelvis had been out of whack for months (I had been unable to stand on one foot (the right one - like when standing & putting on underwear or pants) with out a shooting pain down my leg - way before I was showing... and after the adjust no more pain!)
Does your Chiro check your alignment?

[swissair81]

My sciatica has been acting up for about a month, intermittantly. For me, I'm pretty sure it's the position of the baby, because it's not a problem most of the time. When it is bad, I'm absolute agony. I try and change my position to encourage the baby to move.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'd bring it up with your careprovider and see if you can get sent to PT for it. It should help!

Beth

[HIU8]

ditto. I had sciatica the ENTIRE 3rd trimester. It was the way DD was laying and no matter what I did she didn't move. At first it was uncomfortable, but it soon became unbearable to the point where I couldn't walk to the mailbox from the garage. My OB sort of blew it off as part of PG (since we knew it was from the position of DD). I wish I had pursued it further and seen someone to get some relief, b/c it was simply horrible.

[happymom]

My SIL had horrible sciatica (and vrious other pains) during her 1st pregnancy. She is pregnant again- 7 months along- and has been going to a water aerobics class once a week. She says it has helped tremendously. She is not in pain all week, until about the day before the class. Once she goes to the class, she is pain free again.

It may be worth looking into! Worst case scenario, if it doesn't help, you'll have gotten some exercise in a fun way! Water exercise is a great low-impact form of exercise during pregnancy.

HTH

[oneontheway]

Thanks for the input. I will ask my chiro about my alignment. I think part of the problem is the area is so tight he isn't able to adjust it. I think I might try a water workout too. I can't really do a class since I don't have childcare but we can head to my inlaws and I can do excercises. I have been working out with a trainer but it doesn't seem to help or hurt. It's frustrating because there is SOOO much I want to do before #3 comes along and some days I can hardly move. I keep telling myself to enjoy it because this may very well be my last pregnancy, lol.

[BabyBearsMom]

I had bad sciatica while pregnant too. I did prenatal yoga and it helped tremendously. They can recommend positions to relieve the pressure on the nerve. I went to weekly classes and then did 15 to 20 minutes each night before bed. I was very skeptical when I started yoga (I'm not the crunchy granola type) but ended up loving it. I didn't realize all of the aches and pains I had until I worked them out with yoga. I've also done post-pardum yoga since having the baby and it has really helped get me back into pre-baby shape. HTH