What helps sciatic pain during pregnancy?

The appearance of intense pain in the lower back is one of the most common discomforts during pregnancy. In addition, it can get complicated if it extends to the hips, legs, and even when it reaches the feet. It is a pain that cancels us out, prevents us from moving with agility and its origin is in the sciatic nerve. We may not be able to eliminate it, but we can alleviate it. And from home.

Why does sciatica pain occur during pregnancy?

A multitude of physical changes occur in women during pregnancy, among which are:

• Different weight changes throughout gestation.
• A significant increase in pressure.
• Changes in the center of gravity of your body.
• Changes in body posture.
• Distention of the abdominal muscles and, without a doubt,
• We cannot forget about the action of hormones, in particular, relaxin.

All these, together, are the reasons that generate an imbalance and instability in the pelvis that, consequently, can lead to excessive compression of the sciatic nerve. It is what is called false sciatica or pyramidal syndrome. As a result of all these changes, the piriformis muscle tenses, contracts and clamps, in turn, the sciatic nerve. That’s when the pain appears.

How can I identify sciatica pain?

This pain can vary greatly from one pregnant woman to another, but in general, the most common warning symptoms that you should act on are:

• Tingling in the lower back.
• Numbness or pain in the buttock, which can occur on one side or both.
• Pain and radiation through the back of the leg that can even reach the foot.

Sciatica pain treatment at home

In order to alleviate sciatica pain at home, we must try to maintain a free pelvis, without pressure and avoiding continuous pressure in that area. Therefore, absolute rest is totally discouraged in sciatica if you are pregnant. Any movement, no matter how small, will alleviate these symptoms. From here, there are four recommendations that are very beneficial:

1. One of the tools that we have to use to work on sciatica pain is a fitball or Bobath ball. With it, we can perform exercises sitting on top focused on joint release, such as rotations or lateral movements.
2. Yoga, we stretch the back and pyramidal or buttocks can also help us a lot to make the pelvic part more flexible and relieve the pressure that this area assumes.
3. Applying local heat can also help us alleviate the discomfort a bit.
4. And of course the local massage. To do this, help yourself with a used tennis ball. With it, you can get relief from the radiation that causes sciatica.

What is the best sleeping position if I have sciatica?

There is no ideal way or position to be able to sleep if this pain appears intensely, everything will depend a lot on each woman. However, we can try to improve our rest with these two tricks:

• If we sleep on our side, it is highly recommended to place a pillow between the legs. In this way, we balance the pressures of the pelvis and manage to keep the back as upright as possible.
• If we prefer to sleep on our backs, it is best to put a pillow under our knees, taking pressure off the pelvis again and also from the piriformis region.