Possible sciatica pain...help!

[ccsunflower]

I am having amazing pain in my butt.  It happens whenever I stand for long periods or am moving around a lot.  The pain is horrible.  I'm pretty sure it's my sciatica.  We're packing up our place and I did about 3-4 hours of packing yesterday and I ended up limping around because the pain was so bad.  Is anyone else experiencing this?  Does anyone know what can be done to help?

[Mummoth]

I had it with my daughter and was prescribed massage :) They have tables with a  little hole in the middle for your baby bump to poke through!

[LuminosaJane]

That stinks!  Massage, maybe PT and a chiro that treats pregnant women can all help.  Make sure you are sleeping with a pillow or two between your knees/ankles so that your leg is about hip height to aid in spinal alignment.  I find a warm bath helps me.  Also avoid sitting on a hard chair and try standing with one leg resting on a stool if it feels good to round your spine.  Cat/cow stretches, unless they hurt, are good for me too. 

[ccsunflower]

Sleeping with a pillow between my legs is the only way I sleep now.  Otherwise my back hurts big time.  After standing at work for 7 hours yesterday I was limping around.  All I wanted to do was lay or sit when I got home.  I tried a shower, but the water hitting it didn't make it feel good.  I thought about a bath, but I thought it would hurt to sit on the hard surface.  Maybe I'll suck it up and try a bath today.  Putting my legs up or laying on the opposite side of the pain helps.  I'll definitely try those stretches.  As for massage, I think I might be able to handle a massage prescription!  

[BennyPai]

My prenatal massage worked wonders for sciatica pain.  The relief was temporary, but still worth it.

[melissarana]

try sleeping on your left side with a pillow between your legs.  i haven’t had sciatic pain (yet?) with this pregnancy, but with my last one it was so severe i was considering physical therapy.  thankfully, simply adjusting the way i slept did the trick!

[dsb76]

I have the same thing and my chiropractor thinks it is piriformis syndrome which is a type of sciatica.  He recommended focus massage to the area and some stretches.  I have found that sleeping with a pillow between my legs helps but it is still present especially after a long day at work.

[ZoeJane'sMommy]

I had it horribly like you do, I even moved when I was like 22 weeks. My lower back/butt hurt so bad by about 24 weeks that I could not walk. My doc sent me to physical therapy(which was a 45 minutes massage with heat before and cold after) and then the therapist would rotate my legs and hips and stuff. I had it every other week until 38 weeks!!! Luckily I had good insurance then and it was paid for.

[blastomom]

I suffered a ruptured disk a few years back that led to major sciatic pain. As a last ditch effort before scheduling back surgery I went to an acupuncturist. The results were amazing. A year of PT, chiro, massages and eventually epidural cortisone injections had not given me more than minimal relief, but after six sessions with a great acupuncturist I was 90% better. I've had annual follow-up sessions for the last three years when I've had minor flare-ups and just scheduled a series of treatments starting this coming Thursday (my first sessions while pregnant--my sciatic is acting up a bit and I want to nip it in the bud). I used to be a total needle skeptic, but now I cannot say enough good things about acupuncture for pain relief! I talked to an OB here (I'm home in Hawaii for the summer) and she was all for it--even said she's had women who brought in their acupuncturist to the delivery room for pain management during labor!

[sowega]

That's miserable! I've had it with a few of mine and chiro has been a lifesaver. Now I make a point of going every week once I hit the third trimester. Lots of other great suggestions here. I hope you feel better very soon!

[Mayachel]

This may sound overly simplistic, but I've found that hanging out on my hands and knees for a couple of minutes when my sciatica is acting up, relieves it. I may have to repeat a few times on days it is bad, but I think in my case it helps the baby and the uterus come forward off whatever other nerve/muscle bundles they are sitting on, causing me to irritate the sciatic nerve. 

[Panonim]

I have had great results from both acupuncture and chiropractic (not even at the same time) for my pregnancy sciatica.

[falafala]

I had some results from both massage and chiropractic, but found that I needed to ice it a lot as well. This website had some good easy ideas.

http://backpainandpregnancy.blogspot.com/2008/11/sciatica-real-pain-in-backside.html

[sh1180]

My Midwife suggested extra B-complex...worked pretty well for me :)