sciatica

jcpolsky

Cathlete
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-03 AT 08:17PM (Est)[/font][p]I am a lurker here and this is my first post. I am 6 months pregnant with my second child and I am suffering from severe sciatica. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so what have you done to remedy this pain?
 
jcpolsky,

Yes, I have had that with my 6th pregnancy and as far as I know ther is nothing that can be done with it. My doctor told me it had to do with the positioning of the baby. I had it really bad with my left side - my leg would just give out on me - to say the least it was very frustrating.

To make you feel any better that is the only pregnancy in which I had that and I have ten children. I never experienced it at all with the other ones.

Maybe Sheila will have some words of advice or even encouragement.

Cheryl
 
Yes, I had this in my third pregnancy, and I really don't know what kind of advice to give ? :-(

I do though understand how you are feeling, it is agonising.

<<<<<<HUGS>>>>>>>

My Midwife did though recommend one of those packs that you can buy from a drugstore, that pops into the freezer. Once it is frozen, wrap it in a towel, and press on the painful area. It helps to numb the area. I was given this advice just after I had my baby, so check with a Health Official if you can do the same whilst pregnant. I was around 5 months pregnant when the sciatica began.
I also found out later that it runs through my Dads side of the family.

Take Care

Anna :)
 
Since it's a nerve pinch, there's not really a great *cure* per se ... at least not in the way that you can stretch out a muscle... but you can sometimes relieve the pressure and give yourself a little relief... and sometimes it just sort of relieves itself as the baby settles in a new position

When I had sciatica with my last pregnancy, I found two stretches that helped relieve the pressure on the nerve...
1- go on all fours, making sure that your body is squared... put one leg (on the side where you are experiencing the sciatic) straight back and then lift it and cross it over the other leg (again, make sure that you keep your hips and shoulders in alignment).
2- sit on a stability ball or a chair and cross one leg (on the side that hurts)over the other, making the shape of a number "4" ; then, keeping your back straight, hinge forward slightly from the hips so that you get a stretch in the buttocks/hip.

Other than that, I could function in my prenatal/postpartum low-impact aerobics classes if I left out mambos and cha-cha's (they were excruciating!)... knee lifts didn't bother me, but I've heard it said that they do bother some women who suffer from sciatica... I also found that swimming worked well for me, and sometimes kicking around in the pool somehow worked out the sciatica for a day or so and I'd get a little relief!

Definitely mention your sciatica to your OB... in some cases it may be better not to exercise or to modify your exercise when you have sciatica.
Susan
 
Susan,

Wow, you were very lucky to still be able to do low impact aerobics.....some days I couldn't even walk ;(

Anna :)
 

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