Sciatic nerve is actually one of the largest and the longest nerve in the human body. This particular nerve runs all the way starting at the lower back to under the uterus all the way through the buttocks to the leg and down reaching to your foot.
Now, the sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy occurs when this nerve is compresses or is pressured by weight on it which in this case is the growing uterus in your body.
Depending on how the baby is lying and this nerve, you will feel pain down the back of your thigh to the lower part of the leg and to the sole of the foot.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy are typically common in all pregnant women experiencing it.
These symptoms include; sharp pains such as that of pins or needles in the lower back or leg, especially the affected leg, shooting and burning in the leg, lower back or buttock, pain in the lower back or back of the pelvis that may go all the way to the foot, and numbness in the leg or feet.
In most cases sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy will disappear on its own. However, it may persist to as much as six week and plus before the disappearance.
Frequent visits to a physical therapist can help in relieving some of the symptoms. This manual therapy will mostly help in relieving pressure and the discomfort associated to sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy.
As other women may find chiropractic care helpful in relieving the sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy, you should be careful when considering this option of seeing a chiropractor or even any other given manual therapist, make sure that they are experienced in working with prenatal patients.
Non-surgical treatments may include the chiropractic manipulation, exercise, massage, steroid injection, ice and heat, physical therapy, acupuncture as well as pain management measures like the biofeedback and relaxation therapy.
Though, anti-inflammatory medications like the ibuprofen help in reducing the pain of inflammation you should know that any pain relief medications such as the aspirin and also ibuprofen are not recommended medications during pregnancy.
With your qualified doctor’s approval, you may go ahead to take acetaminophen in order to relieve the pain, and even though you may, take the absolute minimum that is recommended for you and ensure not to solely depend on it for relieve.
There are physical activities that can relieve the pain as well. Through these activities you acquire both physical and emotional benefits. Bed rest and inactivity accentuates pain and causes shortening of connective tissues and weakening, however the exercises taken should be adjusted to the symptoms of the patient, because very high impact activities like running are sometimes considered very risky.
How To relief the nerve pain through physical activities
The first and most simple activity is to lie on your side, opposite to the painful side; this will help relieve the pressure on the sciatic nerve. Something else not to do is to lift heavy things and also standing for long periods of time. Try to elevate one foot and make it rest on something.
You may experience relief from sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy by applying heat or cold to a particular area experiencing the pain.
Most women do not complain about the idea of having a massage done, however, many women comment that the sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy lies very deeply within the buttocks that the massage does not seem to help much.
Therefore, it is advisable to have your partner massage you in the area that you feel more painful and use the cold compresses in between to make the massage to work better.
If it is possible to take a swim, do it whenever a chance comes across during your pregnancy. In addition, swimming is not only good for the sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy but it is also a great way of maintaining your physical endurance when pregnant.