Sciatic Pain…such a painful thing during pregnancy. Some women never get it, some get it once in a while and others get it the entire time. I was one of those how had it the whole time during my first and my second pregnancy so I have done a ton of research and tried many different things to ease the pain because unfortunately moms to be…nothing will make the pain go away except getting that baby out of you!

What is sciatica?
According to the American Pregnancy Association the sciatic nerve runs under your uterus to your legs. The cause of sciatic nerve pain is thought to be associated with pressure on the nerve caused by the developing baby. The nerve pain feels like a pinched nerve from the back of the thigh and buttocks, lower part of the leg and the sole of the foot.  It can be a constant pain or come and go depending on how the baby is sitting.

Here are some tips and tricks I used to ease the pain. I will be honest many people told me to keep getting massages which is great but it only eased the pain for like 30 minutes and it came back again so wasn’t a very cost effective solution for me.

Tips

• Always lie on the side opposite of your sciatic nerve pain.  You want to ease the pressure on the nerve.
• Avoid standing for long periods of time.  If you have to, try to put more pressure on the side that does not hurt.
• Keep good posture:  When you are working on your computer for hours or carrying your other child on your hip, keep your back straight.  Slumping will put more pressure on your back and irritate your nerve.
• Use a heating pad where the pain hurts the most for a short period of time.

Strategies for help ease the pain

Do the following exercising 2-3 times a day.  These may seem like simple exercises but I promise it will really help ease the pain.

• Pelvic Rock
  • To start this exercise, lay down on the floor on your knees with your hand straight out on the floor in front of you.  Drop your head and roll back upwards one vertebrae at a time.  Make sure you tighten your stomach and buttocks while doing this.  Your back should be parallel to the floor.  Then again one vertebrae at a time, slowly move back into the position you started.  Do this for at least 30 times throughout the day.  This exercise will help the uterus move up and away from the pelvis and reduce the amount of pressure on your sciatic nerve.  This one is really important to do before you get into bed.
• Thigh Stretch
  • Sit straight up in a chair, place the leg that does not have pain on the floor and place the leg with the sciatic nerve pain underneath the knee of your painless leg. Slowly move forward towards your foot on the floor while keeping your back straight. This will give a nice stretch to your buttocks and upper thigh, again easing the pain of your sciatic nerve.
• Swimming
  • This is one of the best exercising you can do to help ease the sciatic pain.  Focus on doing laps for about 20 minutes a day and the pressure off your leg will feel at ease.
• Acupuncture
  • Set up an appointment to get a treatment done to see if this is for you. It’s a great and natural way to reduce that pressure on your nerve.