Question:
I am twelve weeks into my pregnancy and having sciatica pain in my lower right hip and leg. I was wondering if anyone who has kids had this during their pregnancy had this?.

If so, what solutions did you find to help? My doctor is recommending physical therapy and I really don't want more doctor/PT visits to schedule.

Answer:

I, too, experienced sciatica pain during pregnancy. Luckily, I was working at a yoga studio at the time so I received a few wonderful asanas (exercises) that immediately and effectively stopped the pain.

1. Stand as straight as you can and place your hands on your hips. Cross your feet so that the outside of your right foot touches the outside of your left. Your legs should be straight. Keeping your back straight, take a deep breath and bend slowly from the hips, exhaling on the bend. You don't need to go down very far... the important thing is to keep your legs and back straight, and bend from the hips - NOT the waist. You should feel the stretch in the back of the back leg. Come back up slowly, take a deep breath, and repeat crossing your legs the other way. Remember to breathe deeply, and take it very slow and gentle. This exercise helped me immensely!

2. Sit on the floor with your legs outstretched in front of you. Touch the bottoms of your feet together so that your legs form a kind of circle. Take a deep breath and bend forward, with your arms reaching towards your feet, exhaling on the bend. Hold your feet, keeping your head down, and take a few more breaths. This exercise is very comfortable if done correctly. Again, be sure to take it very slow and gentle, and don't push yourself. And remember to breathe deeply.

I found sciatica to come and go mysteriously throughout the pregnancies. In my case, I think it had to do with the position of the baby in relationship to certain nerves.

Toward the end it got so bad that I could hardly walk. Sleeping with a pillow between my knees seemed to help as did the occasional Tylenol. The only real relief came, however, from delivering the baby.

I have had sciatica for years, before and during pregnancy. I used a chiropractor before pregnancy and it helped somewhat but I was afraid to use while pregnant. My OB recomended a physical therapist who specialzed in pregnancy. She was able to give me simple exercises to FIX my back. I went to her only 3 or 4 times. As long as I did the exercises (5min 2X a day) I had no problems with the rest of the pregnancy and the one that followed. It can't hurt to try. It was well worth the time and much better than taking Tylenol constantly.

---

---