Help with Sciatica During Pregnancy - Sayreville,NJ

I am also 4 months pregnant and having the same problem. My doctor recommended I wear more supportive shoes (no flip flops), stay off my feet as much as possible and avoid too much lifting. I have a 2-year-old so the lifting is sometimes hard to avoid but I've noticed that when I stay off my feet more it bothers me less at night. My doctor also recommended pregnancy massage (just a temporary fix but it'll feel better short-term) and pre-natal yoga. I have been sleeping with a pregnancy pillow, which helps me sleep without pain and I wake up feeling better. My doctor never mentioned a chiropractor it sounds like a lot of other people had success with that. She did say physical therapy is an option but it probably wouldn't help much. She also mentioned wearing a supportive maternity belt or tank top. I'm going to get one this week and try it. I'll let you know if it helps. Please let me know if you find anything that works!

My sciatic issues while pregnant sometimes brought me to my knees. I saw a chiropractor, and he saved my life with adjustments. He also showed me some massages my husband could do, (yes to practically rub my behind) but the pain wasn't allowing me to even fall asleep some nights unless my hubby helped with the massaging.

When it was the worst at home or work, I would sit on a tennis ball on whatever side is was the most irritated. It was temporary relief, but it was relief.

Hi M.,
I feel your pain! I never had back problems until I was pregnant w/ my first. Like you, I suffered form sciatica issues until I went to my acupuncturist who specializes in pregnant women and other health issues. It was magic =)! I went to a few sessions and it really helped including my morning sickness. I didn't suffer anymore throughout my pregnancy. Hope this helps.
Good Luck,
G.

My hips hurt terribly the bigger I got. The best thing I did during pregnancy was to get and use a body pillow. Not a pregnancy pillow- although I have heard they work well- that is not what I had... so I don't know if it would relieve the same issues.

But you lie with your arms around the top and the bottom between your knees. It helps align your hips while you are lying on your side and the pain is much lessened. My hip pain woke me up during an otherwise peaceful pregnancy sleep... until I started using the pillow between my knees at night. Then I rested MUCH more comfortably with far less hip discomfort.
hth

Hi M., I feel your pain, even though it was years ago, I too had sciatica during my second pregnancy. I believe I slept on my side with my knee bent as much as possible to stretch out the sciatic nerve. As the baby got bigger I was able to move him off the nerve. I hope this helps. Grandma Mary

Mine started bothering me at nine weeks! I was shocked, I couldn't believe it would happen so early. You can try chiropractic and massage (my preference personally would be the chiro) or you can also get your doctor to refer you to a physical therapist (sometimes chiro isn't covered by insurance but PT is). My doctor also recommended that I do pelvic tilts. That is what the excercise is called if you want to look it up online. I did them several times a day usually. You could do them right before bed and see if that helps you sleep through. I would recommend going to see someone for sure though. I just suffered through mine thinking it would go away since my insurance wouldn't cover anything. I still have problems with it and my son is 2 1/2. I probably wouldn't have issues if I had just gotten it taken care of to begin with.

CHIROPRACTOR!!!! I love mine!!! He got me through the last few months of my pregnancy. I at times could hardly walk more than 5 minutes near the end. It is the baby "sitting" on things it shouldn't but a chiropractor can help. JUST MAKE SURE THEY WORK ON PREGNANT WOMEN! Some won't! Congratulations!

My chiropractor helped me so much. He even has a drop table that allows you to lay on your belly!! that was so worth everything. the piece in the middle of the table bends down allowing for room for your belly. He also has a PT. I live in NJ too and someone recommended a chiropractor on Staten Island. I did go to to him and loved him. His name is Dr. Mike DeMartinis. Nice guy too.
Good luck and feel better. i just found his number. ###-###-#### address is 1926 victory blvd
good luck and feel better

If you are in the city I am a massage therapist working with pregnant women. Massage can definitely help with sciatica. see my website caringtouchmassageservice.com. Yes acupuncture is good too along with stretching and sleeping with the body pillow. good luck

I had problems with my first pregnancy to where I couldn't walk. I found a massage therapist who would work on me face down (on a pad with a belly hole in it) I had him come to my house. You can't go to a spa because they won't really work on the sciatica with liability and the muscles they need to hit are low in the back and butt.
To function normally I had to get a massage every 2-3 weeks beginning in my 5th month and it did get worse with the more weight I gained. I feel super lucky that I didn't have this problem in my second pregnancy - I was really worried about it (not to mention the money).

M.,
I've had sciatica on and off since before I was pregnant, and with both of my pregnancies. I'm 37 weeks now and it's back and does happen at night, but I just wanted to tell you that it did actually go away (til now) as I got bigger. With my first pregnancy though, it lasted through just about the entire time. So there is no guarantee, but don't give up hope because it might subside at least for awhile. I personally think it just depends a lot on how you are carrying your baby and where pressure is getting put on your back. Good luck, I do hope you can get some relief! It can be a pretty discouraging thing.

R.

Try a prenatal yoga class.
I had sciatica with my second pregnancy and the stretching I learned in my yoga class helped reduce the frequency as well as helping me know what to do when it was hurting.
Good luck!

Sciatica is awful. One of the stretches that works is to sit up tall in a chair, toward the front of the seat. Cross your (affected side) ankle over the opposite knee. Gently push the knee open (like a figure 4). Sit up as straight as you can and lean forward from your waist, with your chest up. Sometimes this is enough to relieve the stress on the area. Good luck. It does pass eventually, but that doesn't help when you're in it!

Acupuncture helped my sciatica during both pregnancies, and my insurance paid for it as long as the acupuncturist was a medical dr. I love acupuncture.
I had to stop doing yoga during my second pregnancy b/c it made the sciatica much worse. I think that would vary from person to person.
Good luck!

M.,
I am a personal trainer. There are hip flexor stretches you can do that should aleviate the pain. You might find them demonstrated on youtube.com. You can also find exercises at WebMD.
A good chiropractor should also be able to help. Make sure you ask around for referrals.
Good luck.
Victoria

I had it reallly bad when I was pregnant. My OB suggested I go to Motherhood Maternity and get a maternity belt. I did, and I was very skeptical. It was just elastic and velcro. But when I tried it, it was amazing! I no longer had to hold on to the file cabinets at work randomly due to extreme pain down my leg. I highly recommend them.

Go to a chiropractor today and you'll be better by bed time. I had the same problem during pregnancy and my choropractor fixed me in an hour. Amazing.

I had the same issue when I was pregnant with my son. As PP said, one of those maternity belts really will help a lot. The other thing I my dr recommended that really helped is to ice the middle of your back... not the but and leg where it actually hurts, but right around your waist... it helps calm down the inflammation there that is pinching the nerve.

Good luck.
T.

The chiropractor fixed me about 3 weeks ago! (I'm now 20 weeks.) I was in so much pain, it hurt to even walk at times! My right side would just give out it was so bad.

The first chiropractor I tried a couple times and it didn't help. So I went back to my old chiropractor and she fixed me in 3 adjustments! Plus, she said to make sure and ICE!

M.,

I had the same problem and first went to my chiropractor. That didn't really seem to help but then I went to see an acupuncturist who deals with pregnant women and I had no more sciatica after three treatments. It was the first time I had ever been to an acupuncturist so I was nervous but was so glad I did it. I also did some of the pelvic floor exercises, like the pelvic tilt (you can find it online) and some stretching moves which helped as well. After the pain went away (around 5 or 6 months) I never had it again for the rest of the pregnancy. Hope this helps.

-D.

Hi M.,

Find a principle, upper cervical chiropractor in your area. (If you can't go to ucspine.com and find one) Not only will it help with your sciatica but it will also build your immune system and help the baby's development along as well!

Congratulations!

M.